Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure
by fictionextravaganza
Summary: After defeating Voldemort and finishing school, Harry can't be with the person he wants and doesn't know what to do with his life so he goes traveling. This is the beginning, middle and end of a series. Slash Bill/Harry because there's not enough.
1. The Beginning

**Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure**

**Chapter One - The Beginning**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: It's called fanfiction for a reason, I don't own the characters, world, story etc.<strong>

**Enjoy!  
><strong>

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><p>Harry lay panting on the ground, his breath forming tiny crystals in the air; it was over. He couldn't believe it was finished, just seconds ago he had been facing a very alive, very deadly, Nagini and Voldemort. One well placed reducto on the snake and one flying fang later, they were both dead. It was funny actually, he couldn't have done any better if he tried, technically speaking he hadn't even really killed Voldemort, sure, he was the cause of his death but it wasn't his fault the fang decided Voldemort's throat was a good resting place, he was just really glad it did. It happened during the Christmas holidays of his fifth year, Voldemort had decided to attack the school while most people were gone, so as to not have much resistance, but he didn't take into account the fact that the entire DA had stayed and that the Order of the Phoenix was gathering to Floo to Grimmauld Place. If he had been 20 minutes earlier or five minutes later, he would have had no difficulties but you know what they say, 'The best laid plans of mice and men', Voldemort was the mouse in this particular situation (he hadn't deemed it necessary to bring more than 20 Death Eaters with him, the rest were planning an attack on Diagon Alley) and his plans failed.<p>

As he rolled over to look at the clear, winter sky, Harry pondered what to do next, what do you do after defeating one of the most evil wizards of all time? Everything pales in comparison, he couldn't imagine being happy chasing after the random Death Eater, it just wouldn't be satisfying.

_Hell, why do I have to decide now? _He asked himself, _I'm only fifteen, I still have to finish school. That's as good a place to start as any._

So, Harry and the rest of Hogwarts finished the school year - in peace this time. He took his OWLS and without an evil Dark Lord hanging around in his head it was much easier to concentrate so he passed with all Os - he did have an A in divination but no one counts that.

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><p>He spent the summer before his sixth year alternating between staying with Sirius and the Weasleys, towards the end though, he was spending more time with Sirius and not because he missed him. See, ever since he first met the eldest Weasley kid he hadn't been able to get him out of his head. Whenever he was around William Weasley he couldn't think, he couldn't speak, he couldn't do anything. His lovely teenage hormones were going completely crazy, he would see the back of Bill's head, with his neat ponytail and he would get the urge to pull the hair free and run his fingers through it. He would catch a glimpse of his fang earring and a tingle ran down his hand. But worst of all, Bill had this habit of staying up late and falling asleep sprawled across the couch in the living room.<p>

Bill's head would be nestled among the pillows in one corner, one leg would be draped over the armrest, and the other would be hanging off the side, just barely touching the floor. Sometimes an arm would hang above his head, other times it would rest on his slowly rising and falling chest, invariably the other would be falling onto the floor. This particular habit was the reason Harry avoided the Burrow more and more and eventually caused him to never visit when Bill was there. It started the first time Harry couldn't sleep and went down to the kitchen for tea, as he passed the living room, on his way back upstairs he saw Bill, fast asleep on the couch. Bill had looked so peaceful, so serene, in that moment, that Harry had just stood there and watched him sleep. That time it hadn't felt odd or wrong but as the days went by he found himself getting up for tea more often just to see if Bill was on the couch. Harry noticed that Bill was there more and more often, and with every night he would get a bit bolder, stand just a little closer, and leave feeling just a little bit guiltier. Everything in him besides his heart was shouting at him, telling him it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself, Bill was his addiction. One night, _The Night_, as Harry referred to it in his head, he had been standing there, only a metre away from where Bill was lying, when a small beam of moonlight fell onto Bill's face, it lit up his features with an ethereal glow. Harry had watched, almost like a bystander, as his hand reached out towards Bill. Harry had cupped Bill's face with his hand and traced the contours of his cheekbone ever so gently with his thumb, it was the touch of a lover and Bill had leaned into the caress. This slight movement on Bill's part was enough to snap Harry out of whatever trance he had been in and he ran quickly and quietly back to Ron's room where he lay panting on his cot. Harry thanked Merlin and whatever other gods there may be, that Bill hadn't woken up. From that day on he stopped going downstairs at night and visited the Burrow less and less. The only person who put the pieces together was Sirius, he knew something was wrong when Harry started spending more time with him and Christina; it's not that he minded, just that he wanted Harry to be happy, which he obviously wasn't. So, they talked and Sirius agreed that Bill was too old for Harry but he also said that if he still liked him in five or ten years it wouldn't matter as much. Unfortunately for anyone else seeking a relationship with Harry, Harry had this small ember of hope which refused to be smothered, thereby making him immune to any and all advances.

Sixth and seventh year came and everyone freaked out about NEWTS and careers, as was normal, and Harry still had no idea what he wanted to do. He spent the holidays with Sirius and when he found out that Bill was back in Egypt, he frequented the Burrow as well.

Harry didn't accept the extremely lucrative offer of and immediate Auror post and he turned down all sorts of other offers from the ministry. He even said no to teaching DADA for a year at Hogwarts (it turned out that the curse used by Tom Riddle didn't dissipate when he died – it just allowed some professors to come back after a few years break. This pattern of turning down good jobs put some people into a state of panic, why hadn't the boy-who-lived-and-conquered decided on a job? Were his grades bad? (Professors and students were sworn to secrecy on this one.) Did the Dark Lord injure him? What was wrong? When Harry heard some of the rumours that were going around he finally decided to tell them _something_, if only to make them shut up. He didn't feel like giving an interview so he sent a short letter to the Daily Prophet and a copy to the Ministry, it read:

_Wizarding World,_

_There has been much speculation as to my plans for the future. I would like to tell you now that they are exactly that, _My Plans_, and if I haven't told you then they obviously don't concern you. I'm glad that you are all looking out for my well-being but I assure you, everything is fine, I just haven't decided what I want to do when I graduate. I now request that you cease and desist all attempts to pry into my life._

_Thank you,_

_Harry Potter_

This letter was not received well by the public and they started camping out in front of the school and even tried to bribe students to spy on him. However, the reporters couldn't see anything from the gates and the other students often found it amusing to prank them and send bogus information such as 'Harry has now been turned into a giant canary and taken to hanging out in the Owlery.' Another was 'Harry now wears pink dresses and bows in his hair and skips around singing Mary had a Little Lamb' (a muggle-born thought this one up), 'Harry is having an affair with the Giant Squid', 'Harry is blind and still playing Quidditch'. Harry's personal favourite was 'There are now seven Harrys, they each dress in the different colours of the rainbow and walk around speaking in limericks.' Any student who was more inclined to report on his actual activities - which were completely mundane - found themselves as test subjects for the Weasley twins, directly when the twins were still in school, and then by way of Ginny and Ron when the twins opened their shop.

As much as Harry appreciated what his fellow students were doing for him, he couldn't wait to graduate, he couldn't wait to get away from the frequent reminders of everything everyone else had an he didn't. He would see Hermione and Ron together and would feel the need to leave, it wasn't jealousy, envy or even resentment, it was longing. He would be walking down the hall and catch a glimpse of red hair and feel, of all things, guilty. He had fallen for someone so completely out of his reach, someone who it was wrong to like, to even think of him that way wasn't right; it was barely even legal. It took him a while to figure it out but he eventually realized that the feeling of needing to leave did not just come with observing couples and their relationships, it was there all the time. Finally, Harry figured out what he was going to do.

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><p>As soon as the Hogwarts' Express pulled into Platform 9 ¾ Harry disappeared into the bathroom, applied a heavy glamour and apparated to Diagon Alley. He had a little chat with the goblins who agreed to do business with him under a false name and grabbed a shit-ton of gold – they even hooked him up with a credit card, Harry wasn't really sure how this worked but hey, if it works, it works. He then headed out to do some shopping. He bought some very durable robes, heavy duty boots, and found something called a 'Travellers Pack'. The pack was just a normal-looking canvas backpack with a greatly expanded inside; it came with a serviceable tent, maps, compass, parachute (he wasn't really sure what this was for but hey, might come in handy), sailing boat (it was ocean-worthy and could be sailed by one man which gave Harry some really interesting ideas), skis and snowshoes (again, interesting ideas), beach chair and umbrella, bookcase and a massive wardrobe. At first, the man who sold it to him had refused to do so.<p>

"This is a gift, I can make you another one but this particular one is meant for someone else. You can look but you'll have to wait."

Harry, after seeing the pack, had his heart set on it. "Well, I don't want to wait, I need to leave as soon as possible, I will double whatever the other person is paying you."

The man glared at him, "They're not paying, like I said before, it's a gift."

"Who is it for? Maybe I can convince them to wait for you to make another one?"

The man looked nervous but resolute. "This, young man, is for Harry Potter. And he doesn't even know about it so there's no way you can convince him to give up something he doesn't even know about."

Harry stepped back in shock, "You're making a travelling pack for Harry Potter?"

"Well, yeah. He hasn't told anyone what he's doing next so I thought he might like the means to travel around. I mean, what is a guy supposed to do after defeating an evil Dark Lord?"

"That's exactly what I thought!" Harry exclaimed with a grin, "No one seems to understand that. They just all think I should go off and – " He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the guy's face, he had forgotten that he wasn't supposed to be himself. "Oh, um...yeah..." He dropped his glamour and looked at the shop keeper a little guiltily."

The man stared at him for a full ten seconds before bursting out laughing. "Well, isn't this just the greatest thing ever? Here I am saying you can't have the very thing I was planning on sending you!"

"Yeah, it is quite funny when you look at it that way."

The guy grinned, "I guess I was right in thinking you were going to leave us for a bit?"

Harry smiled sheepishly, "That you were, it's just like you said, it's hard to do anything once you've killed, albeit in a roundabout sort of way, Voldemort."

"Well," The man said, "I was just putting the finishing touches on the bag when you walked in so if you wait twenty minutes it will be ready for you."

"Okay, I have some other things I need to get while I'm here so I will go do that and come back in a bit."

"I will see you then." The shop keeper said with a smile as Harry walked out the door. The man couldn't believe that he had thought along the same lines as Harry Potter. He had hoped that Harry would use his gift sometime but had been completely prepared for it to be returned with a 'Thank you but no thank you' note attached. That Harry had come _looking_ for it was a sign of just how right he was.

Harry (with his glamour re-applied) walked to Flourish and Blotts to get some reading material for his adventures, because that's what he planned to do, go adventuring. He picked up books on many different subjects; runes, ancient history, myths, superstitions, curses, tombs, geography, culture, language (human and not), creatures and beasts, Herbology and foreign magics (there weren't many but what they did have, he bought), he even got piles of fiction novels. But Harry mainly focused on books related to travel, in that section he went to the very bottom shelf and pulled out the oldest, most obscure ones he could, ones about places normal people would never even think of going. Some of his favourites were, 'Lands of Ice: The Frozen North', 'Magic Monuments of the Maya', 'Southern Mysteries', 'Magic of the Forbidden City', 'Where Fire Meets the Air: Volcanoes of the World' and last but most certainty not least, 'The Book of the Lost: From Atlantis to Lemuria'. What Harry _didn't_ get were advanced books on transfiguration, charms, defence, potions, politics, or anything else people would call 'useful' for the careers they thought he should explore. He didn't want to do anything expected, sure, he could learn tons of advanced magic and become some sort of super-wizard, he certainly had the smarts for it – apparently, when he put his mind to it he was more than a little intelligent – but he didn't want to. After all, this was teenage rebellion at its best. He did get 'Potions for the Traveller' - it was old, way in the back, and in pristine condition, no one had ever touched it, 'Surviving in the Wild: Practical Defence', 'When There's No One Around for Miles: Keeping Safe on Your Own', 'Hiding in Plain Sight', 'What You Need, When You Need It', and 'Common Courtesy for any Culture'. As an afterthought, he picked up 'The Lost Arts of the Sea: Sailing for the Wizard'. He also got a whole pile journals, a handful of quills, pots of ink, a selection of charcoal and a few sketchbooks.

Harry then went to the Apothecary and stocked up on the simple ingredients recommenced in the one potions book he had. At Eeylops, Harry bought a large packet of owl treats and called Hedwig to him. He scribbled a short note to Hermione and attached it along with the treats to her leg, and another to Ron, Hedwig seemed to know what was going on and nibbled him gently on the ear. She was always smarter than regular owls so not only did she know what was happening, she also understood and accepted it.

"Don't worry Hedwig, I'll be fine, I just can't take you with me this time. I'll be going places and doing things which you won't enjoy. Now, I'm going to put an owl shield up so other owls can't find me but I know you can find me whenever you want so don't be a stranger. I will always keep a letter or two for you to carry back if you come and visit, they are allowed one response. However, if they try to _force_ you to take a letter to me I hereby give you permission to rip it to pieces and/or peck at their fingers, they should get the message soon enough. Please drop the letter for Ron and then go to Hermione, I hope you will stay with her, but the choice is yours."

Once Hedwig had flown off, Harry headed back to get his pack. The man explained that the pack was charmed to be watertight, weight adjustable, ever expanding and even if it fell off it would come back to him. The security features were extensive but boiled down to the fact that only he could get in.

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><p>Harry popped over to muggle London to grab two sturdy pairs of pants, a couple of shirts, a light jacket, hat, boxers and socks. Then he apparated to Grimmauld Place, Sirius deserved a proper explanation.<p>

"Sirius." Harry called as he entered the house.

"Kitchen!" A voice yelled back.

Harry walked in the kitchen to find Sirius lounged with his feet on the table and a massive sandwich in his hands.

"Hey kid, what's up? You were supposed to be back a while ago." Sirius said calmly, he wasn't as uptight as some guardians could be, which pleased Harry to no end.

"Well, there were some things I needed to do and something I need to tell you." Harry said nervously, he didn't want Sirius to think he was abandoning him.

"I was wondering when you were going to leave." Sirius said, taking his legs off the table. "It doesn't take a genius to tell that you need to go for a bit."

Harry blinked. "You know too?"

"Yeah, I've been seeing the signs for a while now. I just hope that you find someone or something to take your mind off our troublesome Weasley."

Harry smiled, he was glad he had told Sirius about Bill, everyone, even the saviour of the world, needed someone to talk to sometimes. "I do too. I can't believe it's been this long and I still haven't gotten over him. But don't worry, I'll find a way; and hopefully some other interesting stuff as well."

"I don't doubt you will kid, not for a second. Now, what's that you've got there?" Sirius asked, nodding towards the pack Harry had dropped on the floor.

"Well, I've just been to Diagon Alley, apparently the guy who owns the trunk shop had made me what he dubbed a 'Travellers Pack', he was going to send it tomorrow. When I walked in and asked about it he said it was a gift and I couldn't buy it, then he found out who I am and told me it was mine!"

Sirius smiled, "Well, I'm not surprised. Anyone with their head screwed on straight would have come to a similar conclusion, problem is that not many people have enough head to screw on. So, when are you leaving?"

"Well, I was just coming back here to say goodby and then I'm off. I wrote letters to Ron and Hermione but I figured you deserved a face-to-face farewell."

"Well, thank you. I appreciate it. Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

Harry looked at his shoes, "Probably years, I plan on travelling the world, the semi-Muggle way."

"Care to explain what semi-Muggle means?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow,

"Well, the pack came with a sailboat..." Harry shuffled his feet nervously, "And I was already planning on doing a lot of trekking so..."

"Wow. That, I did not see coming, I expected travelling, maybe even a bit of walking but you make it sound like you'll be trekking the world!"

"Yeah, I guess it just feels right. But like I said before, it's probably going to take years. I don't want to miss anything and anyway, it's not like I have a time limit or anything. And money won't be a problem, between the reward money, the Potter vault and what's left of my school trust fund, none of my descendants will have to work for centuries." Harry said with a smile, it was nice to know that he didn't have to worry about a job, that he could go travelling and not have to bother with earning money along the way.

"That's the understatement of the year, kid." Sirius said with a grin, "You could fund all of Britain for at least a year! Anyway, take your time, don't get hurt, and keep in touch." He finished with a hug.

"I will. But," Harry returned the hug but also looked down nervously. "I, um...I kinda put an owl blocker spell on myself. I will send stuff with Hedwig when she comes to visit but other than that..."

Sirius just nodded and squeezed Harry tighter. "That's okay, I understand. Now, off you go before Ron and Hermione show up. They will probably be here any minute."

"Okay." With one final hug, Harry shut the door and disapparated away.

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><p>Ron was just about to go for a start of summer fly around the field when he saw Hedwig flying to the house, he leaned his broom up against the wall and went to retrieve the letter.<p>

_Ron,_

_Hey mate, I know you're wondering why I'm writing now, I mean, we just got off the train. But I wanted to tell you that I'm off. I'm going travelling. I won't be back for a while so don't put anything off for me. I've made it so owls can't find me cause I want to do this on my own. Anyway, I've left Hedwig with Hermione, Hedwig's too smart for owl blocks but she won't take letters for me (don't try, you won't like it). She will come visit me sometimes and I'll send stuff back with her, you can respond to those letters but that's it. Thanks for everything, mate._

_Cheers,_

_Harry_

_P.S. Don't wait too long to ask Hermione._

Ron ran into the house and nearly crashed into his mum.

"Mum!" He gasped. "Mum, he's gone!"

"Calm down Ronald, who's gone?"

"It's Harry, he left, I think he's gone on an extended vacation or something." Ron said, waving the letter in her face.

Molly sighed and took the letter, when she finished she looked up at Ron with sad eyes. "I think it'll be longer than an extended vacation, it sounds like he's going to be travelling for quite a while. I just hope he doesn't get hurt."

"Hey, what's going on?" Ginny asked as she walked in with Dean.

"Harry's left." Ron said sadly, "He went 'travelling'."

Dean shrugged, "I'm not surprised, it seemed like he wanted to get away, now he has."

The twins, who had just walked in said, "I think that's-"

"-the perfect thing for-"

"-someone like him-"

"-to be doing."

"I'm sure he'll-"

"-have a splendid time-"

"-wreaking havoc in all-"

"-the four corners of our-"

"-beloved world." They finished together.

Dean, who had been looking from Fred to George and back again as if he was watching a tennis match said, "You guys are _really_ weird."

The twins just grinned as the front door opened with a crash.

"Hello family!" Bill called into the house. "I've just pop –" He stopped talking when he saw everyone's faces. "Woah, who died?"

Molly whacked him on the head, "No one died, you mangy-haired rascal, Ron just got a letter from Harry."

"Harry? But didn't they literally _just_ get off the train?" Bill asked with what he hoped was a level voice. He had secretly been hoping that Harry would be here or would be coming soon, but knew the chances were pretty slim, he didn't seem to be around the Burrow as much as he used to. It probably had to do with the fact that he had a family of his own what with Remus, Sirius, Tonks and Christina all living together. Still, he couldn't help but hope Harry would be here. Bill had tried for the last two years to get that boy, now a man, out of his head; he failed miserably. He had spent the first half of the summer before Harry's fifth year playing a game of cat and mouse with him, side-long glances, eye contact followed by blushing and turning away, 'accidental' collisions in the hall (not too hard to fake in the Burrow) and then there was the whole midnight admirer thing.

_**Flashback**_

Bill thought back to the first summer he had spent at the burrow with Harry, the summer before his sixth year. Bill had met Harry two summers before, when they all gathered for the World Cup, and he had been immediately fascinated by him. There was something about him that captured his attention, something that started with his eyes and then went so much deeper. As soon as he had noticed his attraction to the _fourteen year old_ boy, he had quashed it, those sorts of feelings were not only illegal, they were downright creepy. Bill pushed them to the back of his mind and tried to ignore them, however every now and then he was sure Harry was looking at him, (he was never able to catch him at it – which was probably a good thing) and any progress he made with diverting his attention flew out the window. Then the World Cup fiasco happened, Harry's name was put in the Goblet of Fire, and Bill found that he couldn't keep Harry off his mind. When his mother had asked if he wanted to go see Harry compete in the final task Bill had jumped at the opportunity; that was a mistake because his attraction had grown even more as he watched Harry shoulder a man's burden and manage to stay standing. In Bill's mind, it was impossible to know Harry and not love him, cause that's what it was, Bill loved Harry. Even though it was wrong, perverted almost, and despite the fact that they hadn't really talked much, Bill had fallen for Harry. And he couldn't tell anyone, least of all Harry. So he just ignored it and suffered in silence. The summer before Harry's fifth year, Bill was in Egypt, trying desperately to move on, and failing, again. Then something happened the summer after Harry defeated Voldemort that made it nigh impossible to forget about it.

One night, Bill had been up late with his father and decided that the couch was good enough for the night. Then, around three or four in the morning he woke up suddenly with the feeling that someone had been watching him, he shook the feeling off and didn't think of it again. Until, that is, it happened again. It was about two weeks later and he had once again, fallen asleep on the couch, again, he woke up to the feeling of being watched. The third time this happened he was sure he wasn't imagining things, someone had definitely been there, he could hear them going back up the stairs. Oddly enough, there was something exhilarating about the whole situation so he started sleeping on the couch more often, almost once a week. He also really wanted to know who it was that was making these midnight excursions, he was pretty sure it wasn't a family member so that ruled out more than half the house but there were still all their visitors. He also got the feeling that whoever it was liked him but wasn't supposed to, after all, they _were_ watching him sleep in the middle of the night So, he made a mental list of all the non-family members who could like him but weren't supposed to; Hermione. _Ron will kill me._ Fleur. _Could be worse but gotta run for my life if Charlie ever finds out._ Dean. _Hahahahahahaha!_ Penelope. _Oh dear Merlin, no!_ Sirius. _That's just weird, but again, could be worse...okay that's enough of that..._ Tonks. S_he doesn't usually stay the night._ And that left Harry _Do I dare hope it could be Harry? I know I really shouldn't, he's too young. But...he's just so...Harry._ It was then that Bill decided he didn't really want to know, no matter who it was only bad could come from finding out. So, he would just lay on the couch as often as he could and let whoever it was watch as much as they wanted. One night, however, his watcher went one step further. They had been standing there for probably the longest time yet when he could sense them coming closer. When he felt a soft hand brush his cheek and a delicate finger caress his face Bill couldn't help but lean into their touch and wish with all his heart that he had the courage to look at the face of his midnight admirer.

The more he thought about it, the more sure he became that it was Harry watching him, and Harry who touched him so gently. Especially since after that night, Harry seemed to disappear and his watcher did too. But even though he was pretty sure Harry liked him, or _had,_ at one point, neither of them did anything. They still felt it was wrong, or at least Bill did; but that didn't stop him from wanting to see Harry though, even if he couldn't have him he could still watch from afar.

_**End Flashback**_

However, now was not the time to wallow in self-pity and miss something that never was, so he turned his attention back to the conversation.

"Yeah, the train only got in two hours ago." Dean said. "He must have worked pretty fast."

"Or been planning this-"

"-trip of his, for quite-"

"-some time." The twins added.

"Trip?" Asked Bill, completely confused.

"Oh, brother of ours-" The twins started again.

"-must we -" Their mother cut them off before they could really get going with their twin speak.

"Harry has decided to go 'travelling' as he put it." Molly said with a small smile.

Ron looked at the letter still clenched in his mum's fist, "I think he's known he was going to go for a while now, he just didn't know when. You have to admit though, he does work fast, unless he prepared at Christmas or via owl order, he has upped and left in record time."

"Yeah, you can say that again." Ginny said. "Two hours and he's packed and left, goodbye letters and all. What's more, by the way he says 'a while', it sounds like he's talking about years. I mean, it might not say that but I just have a feeling."

"May I?" Bill asked as he reached for the letter. He read through it and smiled at the post script. "I have to agree with Ginny on this one, I don't think we will be seeing Harry for a few years at least. If I was him, I'd want to travel the world, and that takes a while, especially if he wants to go to all the interesting places."

The others nodded in agreement and dispersed throughout the house. Bill collapsed onto the couch and looked at where he knew his watcher stood, he could just see him now; t-shirt and boxers, bare feet, messy hair, slightly skewed glasses, bright green eyes and a small smile. At least, that's how Bill liked to picture his watcher, as a sleepy Harry. He hoped that wherever Harry was now, he was happy. Bill resolved then and there that he would try even harder to move on, Harry was gone and it didn't sound like he would be back for a long time, it was time to put him in the past. Bill decided to finish up in London as soon as possible and then return to Egypt. Maybe he would take one of those five year posts in Alexandria the goblins had been nagging him about; a change of scenery might do him good.

* * *

><p>Hermione saw Hedwig fly in the window and wondered what Harry could possibly have to say, they had seen each other on the train less than two hours ago, but she just shrugged and pulled the small package and letter off. Hedwig stayed so she figured Harry wanted a response, however, when she read the letter she realized just how wrong that assumption was.<p>

_Hermione,_

_I hope you got home alright and are excited about starting your new job, I'm sure you'll love the Department of Mysteries and whatever you will be getting up to down there. I know you have been pestering me (no, don't deny it, you know you have) about what I am going to be doing and I wanted to tell you that I am going away. Even though it's been two full years since I got rid of Voldemort, people still won't leave me alone, if I stick around here any longer I will surely go mad. I'm going to travel. I don't know where I'm going and I don't have a plan. Just know that I'm fine, I haven't been kidnapped or something terrible like that, I've just left. I'm sorry for not saying goodbye but I just really need to get out of here. Hedwig, as much as she would like to, can't really come with me. She knows and understands this so don't worry about her moping. Since I know you don't have an owl I figured she could stay with you for a bit. She will probably be coming to visit me every now and then so if she disappears for a few days, or even a week at times, don't worry. If you don't want to keep her she will be able to sense it and find somewhere else to go but I would greatly appreciate it if you could do this for me. Anyway, the owl treats are for you guys, you might need them if you two have an argument. One or two given with an open hand and a heart felt apology should do the trick, groveling is not usually required but can help a lot at times._

_Please don't worry about me, I will be gone for at least a year, probably a lot longer. Live your life, you deserve to be happy. I hope Ron doesn't wait till you guys are fifty to finally pop the question but if he does just know he loves you all the same._

_Anyway, I would rather not be contacted, I am looking for peace and quiet and need time to sort things out. Hedwig won't take letters for me and has strict instructions on what to do if you try. But don't worry, I will keep in contact; whenever Hedwig pays me a visit I will send a letter back and you can respond, but that's it._

_Best wishes,_

_Harry_

_P.S. Go ahead and tell the world whatever, I sent a note to Ron as well so maybe you guys can come up with something together. Sorry to saddle this with you but I really don't have the patience to deal with them right now._

Hermione sighed, she had seen this coming but hadn't wanted to believe it; Harry needed to get away, they all knew that. She was starting her job with the Department of Mysteries and Ron was going into Auror training, everyone else had plans and were moving on with their lives. Harry didn't have those plans or even a special person – though Hermione did have her suspicions about an unrequited love situation – he needed to do something, and travel was really the only thing which could make him happy right now. So, she let him go, knowing that eventually he would make his way back home.

None of them knew it at the time (except perhaps Sirius), but that day was the last time anyone of them would see Harry for more than a decade and when someone did, they wouldn't know it was him. Harry wouldn't set foot in England for fifteen years.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm going to make this particular story just a few chapters long, but they will serve as bookends. I want to write about his travels but putting them all in one story would mean I never finish it. So, I'm going to make it sort of a mini-series. Reviews and suggestions are always nice, especially if there is a special place you'd like to see him go, I have a route worked out but I can try and fit more stuff in if you have a good idea.<strong>


	2. Around the World Part I

**Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure**

**Chapter 2 – Around the World Part I**

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><p>Author's Note: This chapter is mostly just to give you a reference point for the rest of the ficlets which will be written in conjunction with this story. I know it's not very interesting but it does give you an idea of where he goes as well as a rough time line. I'm doing this so I don't have to write the ficlets in order; this way, I can write fun bits and I (hopefully) won't confuse you too much. And yes, I know it's unbelievably short.<p>

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, it's not mine. Simple.

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><p>The first thing Harry did was apparate to the Shrieking Shack and take everything out of his pack; there was the tent, a parachute, a hang glider, a beach chair and umbrella, skis, snowshoes, a shrunken, double masted, one-person sailboat and of course, a tent. It was basic but had a small kitchenette, bathroom, bedroom (which oddly enough came with a massive wardrobe), living room, study area and four bookcases just screaming at him to fill them up. Harry then put all back in his pack and looked around, he had no idea where to start to he just pointed his wand randomly at a map of the world and the tip landed on Iceland.<p>

Harry set sail from the tip of Scotland and after a few days of learning how to sail a double masted sailboat on his own, he finally made it to the beautiful island. He spent three weeks trekking across the island, he met spark spitting lizards and massive Hippogriffs; watched as brilliant rainbows graced the every-lit sky and saw chasms carved by thousands of years of ice creeping down a mountain. He filled journal after journal with detailed accounts of his travels and his sketchbooks bulged with drawings and notes about all the wonderful creatures he met and the beautiful things he saw.

After passing by Greenland, Harry sailed beyond the Northwest passages, up through Baffin Bay and into the Arctic Ocean. While he sat at the bow of his boat, hovering over the north pole, he met a giant, telepathic kraken with a dry sense of humour. Having only ever met Inuit shamans before she was overjoyed to have someone who could tell her of the world beyond the Circle to which she was bound. She had only seen muggle foreign explorers and whenever she tried to talk with them they thought they were mad, which was never a pleasant thing to listen to. Harry wrote about her and carefully drew picture after picture of her. It was a thrill to know that he was the first to meet such a wonderful creature.

Harry went to shore near the Yukon and continued down the continent on foot; along the way he met and traveled with various Inuit tribes, learning all about natural magic and the magic of the northern earth. He passed through First Nations' settlements and small Canadian towns, all the while talking and sharing knowledge with the people he met. He made it down into the United States and wandered back and forth from the Ocean to the plains, over and over again. Harry crossed the Cascades and the Rockies, the Salt Flats and the Seirra Nevadas, he walked down the Grand Canyon and stood at the edge of the hot pools. He passed through cities, spending time in Seattle, Portland, Los Angles, Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego and Salt Lake; and every time he stopped, even in the smallest of towns, he sought out a book shop and purchased a few books to add to his growing collection. Harry wound his way all the way down into Mexico and then, when he saw a train heading north east, back into the United States he decided to hop on and see where it took him. He met Rock Gnomes, Fire-dancing Gremlins, Train Goblins and Dumpster Demons, he also met Cactus Sprites, Sulfur Sirens, Pine Nymphs and Salt Imps. It was amazing and wonderful. November found Harry exploring the sights and sounds of New York city, which quickly turned to snow and ice, chasing him down to Florida. Standing on the beach in Miami, Harry could almost feel something calling him to the ocean, so he pulled out his boat and set sail. He sailed around the Atlantic for over a week, just going where the wind and the call took him. At long last he stumbled upon the lost entrance to the sunken city of Atlantis, he spent two years there, going to the Atlantis Academy of Magic, he learned of things long forgotten to those on the land.

Harry graduated at the top of his class and then felt another quiet pull on his magic, it was calling him away. He once again followed the wind and it brought him to Central and South America when he visited and learned at old Mayan and Inca temples, searched for the golden city of El Dorado and trekked up the Amazon. Along the way he met royal snakes of the Inca, demon gold guardians, freshwater mermaids, Amazonian vampires, fairies of the rain forest, spiritual winds, living rain and many other fascinating things which had not been officially documented or studied by anyone.

From the mountain village of Machu Pichu, Harry and a few other magical beings he had met set out to find the buried nation of Akakor. They had been wandering around for a week when Harry managed to find the entrance it in the most ungraceful of ways; they had come across an unusual rock formation with some pillars and odd-shaped rocks where they decided to take a break. Harry had just sat down cross legged on a rock when the entire thing, Harry included, just dropped through the forest floor. Needless to say, the goblins – because that was who built the city – were very surprised to have a visitor fall through their ceiling. Harry stayed for three months before he once again felt the need to move on, he left his companions in the buried city and trekked south along the spine of the Andes all the way to Cape Horn, where he stood looking out at the ocean, knowing that Antarctic was just a boat ride away, albeit a cold one. Harry decided that it would okay to try and cross to the South Pole because it was spring, coming on summer; his timing couldn't have been better. By the time he set sail for the frozen continent it was October 2000, he had been travelling for over three years.

Harry landed on the Antarctic Peninsula and started his trek to the South Pole, he passed through the ice-covered mountains and traversed wide expanses of nothingness. In the middle of the Transantarctic Mountains he met an amazing species which could only be described as a type of Ice Nymph, they were completely surprised when he could see them, apparently they had _never _met anyone before because they were invisible to Muggles and no wizard had ever been to the continent. Harry was astonished that this was yet another thing the Muggles had done that wizards hadn't. There was a time when he was confined to the tent for three days straight as he waited for a raging blizzard to run it's course. Eventually though, he made it to the South Pole and from there he looped around through the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and over to Oates Land where he once again took to the sea. From there, he sailed out of the Southern Ocean and north to New Zealand. He passed by Stewart Island and landed in the southern town of Invercargill, Harry then spent the next two months slowly making his way north through New Zealand and all the way up to the northern most tip of Cape Reinga.

In New Zealand he met some very interesting kiwis, both avian and human. He also found a thought-to-be-extinct species of dragonets as well as some extremely rare plants which many northern wizards would kill to get their hands on. The drawings he made there were some of the most amazing yet, that country was spectacular. It was there he realised that his artistic skills had advanced to a point where people, Muggle and wizard alike, were willing to pay large sums of money just to have one. He was told that he a knack for capturing the essence of a landscape, person or being. The wizards were especially drawn to the fact that even though he hadn't used magic to create his art, or even to _help_ create it, the finished product was magical in and of itself. Harry, having turned into quite the humble and quiet man, was so flattered that he made an effort to make more drawings from his memory, and then gave them away as gifts; he didn't even accept a single knut or dollar for his work which seemed to make it all the more precious to those who received one. In return, he found himself quite the local celebrity and welcomed into even the most private of gatherings. In that way he learned things no one outside of New Zealand knew; and he was trusted not to waste, sell or divulge that which he was taught. From New Zealand he hopped back on his boat and headed across the Tasman Sea to Sydney, where he was able to lose himself in the hustle and bustle of city wizard life. At first Harry was wary of spending so much time in a highly populated, international wizarding area but then he remembered that a) he was in the antipodes b) it had been three and a half years and c) he didn't look much like the 17 year old teenager he was when he left. So, he sailed under the bridge and into the heart of the city.

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><p>Author's Note: I've already started on Around the World Part II but reviews are great and will make me finish it faster and post it sooner! I was originally going to post it all as one big chapter but it is a lot of info and I figured you'd want it sooner rather than later. But yeah, <em>review!<em>

Oh yeah, one more thing; I'm not using a beta so mistakes are mine and mine alone, sorry guys.

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><p>Okay, I made a map that might make it a bit easier to understand where he's beengoing.

maps. google. com/ maps/ ms?msid =208818680793029186688. 0004 bab4f81 edeed 6c30b & msa= 0&ll= 33. 83392, 30. 27832& spn= 20. 558295, 30. 366211


	3. Around the World Part II

**Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure**

**Chapter 3 – Around the World Part II**

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><p>Author's Note: Okay, so here is the second part of what is basically just a list of where he went. There is a bit of BillHarry, a kind of hint as to what the 'Egypt' story will contain.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; never have, never will.

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><p>Two weeks later he bought a portkey to Ayers Rock from where he walked across the continent to the northern shore and the Great Barrier Reef, he met hundreds of different snakes and lizards as he walked, many of them were amazingly poisonous andor wielded deadly magic. He then spent the next two months alternating between walking and sailing through Indonesia and up to Vietnam. Near Jakarta he met the Jenglots, a type of tiny vampire who would feed on anyone except the Bukit Timah Monkey Men; only Harry's quick feet and inventive mind kept him from becoming an exotic delicacy. As he sailed out of Singapore he met a family of mini-Hydras, who were surprisingly talkative when they found he could speak with them. They had initially planned on playing catch with his little boat but stopped when they heard him talk. It was times like these that Harry was extremely grateful that he had put lots of time and effort into developing his parsletongue ability. After many years he was now able to talk to any type of snake, dragon, lizard, or basically anything with scales. It was from the Hydras that he learned about the Temple of Literature in Hanoi Vietnam; needless to say, he asked for directions. They accompanied him as far as they could and wished him the best in his travels. When Harry found the Temple he perused ancient texts and recorded information to his heart's content. That is, he read when he wasn't being accosted by a rowdy bunch Book Imps who had taken a liking to him; the Temple librarians were shocked into silence for ten minutes when he had asked if there was a way to get them to leave him alone, apparently they didn't know of the Imp's existence. They were so grateful to him for finally discovering the cause of the random disturbances in the library that they gave him permission to copy some of the rarer books. He also bought many many more, causing his already expanded personal library to grow even more. About a year into his travels he had filled up the four bookcases which had come with the tent and had since added five more, all of which had since filled up. After a month in the Temple he had a grand total of ten bookcases, the inside of his tent had long ago stopped looking like a tent and now more resembled a massive study room. Every surface was covered in books, papers, journals, pencils, pens, quills and parchment. It looked like a library had exploded in there, but despite the fact that it was a mess, you could tell that it was all organised, maybe.

One of the things Harry noticed was that further into Asia he went, the more dragons he met; there were literally hundreds of them. They ranged from the size of his thumb to as big as a Quidditch pitch; and he could talk to all of them! He carefully wrote down all they told him and made both analytical and artistic drawings of them. There were even a few who were willing to teach him some dragon magic, something he didn't even know was possible. From Vietnam he sailed up the coast towards China, passing Taiwan and popping over to Okinawa where he learned to dance with the Kappa water spirits. Then he ducked back across the East China Sea to Shanghai from where he took a bus up to Beijing and the Forbidden City. Harry spent just over a year and a half studying and teaching in the Forbidden City before he felt the pull to leave. He had read about the Great Wall and visited a few sections of it so he decided to walk it. For the next two months he crossed China on foot, walking on the Great Wall when he could and cutting across open land when the wall broken down or that section ended. His maps were a lifesaver – literally, at times – when certain parts of the wall had been eroded or just ended and he had to find where it started up again. There were many people and creature he met along the way but the most interesting by far were the Nightmarchers, they were warrior spirits who had taken it upon themselves to patrol the wall and keep harm from befalling those they chose to protect. Because they could only work at night, hence the name 'Nightmarchers', they had made some sort of alliance with the Wall Wyverns, a close relative of the dragon. After a great deal of explaining on Harry's part, they allowed him to pass freely and even protected and kept him company at times. After reaching the western end of the wall, Harry passed through the Jade Gate at Yumen Pass and then turned north into Mongolia. It took Harry almost another two months to cross the rest of China and Mongolia before he reached the capital, Ullanbaatar where he rested for a month and enjoyed civilisation after four months in the semi-wild. He spent his time wandering the marketplaces and studying in the Choikin Monestary where he both learned from the monks and introduced them to other forms of fighting and magic.

Then, he decided that he wanted to cross Russia but, because it was nearing the middle of October he realised that he wouldn't be able to walk it becuase it would be too cold; even Harry didn't like the idea of crossing Siberia in the middle of winter...where there's no sun. Antarctica was fine, it was spring and then summer; the sun was almost always up but in the winter...just thinking about it depressed Harry. So, he bought a ticket on the Transsiberian Railway, and rode it all the way to the tiny town of Sovestskaya right on the eastern coast, arriving just as October came to a close. He then sailed over to Hokkaido where he planned to spend a few months but after about two weeks he decided it was too cold and he fled south to Tokyo. As he had passed through a tiny, abandoned farming village, there was an interesting encounter with an incubus that he would rather have forgotten. After being in Tokyo for a couple weeks, he heard about a Shuugyou no Gakkai, a meeting of knowledge, in Kyoto; he spent three months there and then took a portkey to the holy city of Lhasa, Tibet.

Harry spent two years at the Potala Palace in Lhasa, he was going to only spend a few months, but when he arrived the Masters of Magic found that he had the ability to manipulate Magic itself. Not only could he use and perform magic but he could change it's flow, talk to it and help it grow. According to the monks and teachers, this was not something a person was born with or something they could learn; this ability was an actual gift from Magic. Magic would choose someone who it deemed worthy and give them this ability. Each person who received this gift had learned all sorts of magic, knew many languages, had done a bit of traveling, had done great deeds and was extremely powerful, but also quite, humble and sharing. Harry was honoured and after studying under some of the most proficient magic masters he became known as the Dak'po Dzo'gyu Mik'thru Me'pa which translated to the Master of Everlasting Magic which they shortened to Dak'po, or Master. He tried to tell them not to call him that, to call him student or even just give him a 'real' name but they refused and called him master. Finally, he just gave up, but not before he got the children to call him Fro'po Mik'thruu Mi (Funny Magic Man) or Fro'po Mi (Funny Man) for short. But that was only after some serious hard work on his part.

After Tibet, Harry walked across the plains of southern Tibet to the mountains and then crossed the Himalayas and over into Nepal. During the crossing he met some mountain werecats that both terrified and excited him; unlike werewolves, they could be born as a werecat and could change from cat to human form at will, they could still 'turn' people during the full moon but didn't seem to think it was particularly interesting, so they didn't, usually. With their permission, Harry carefully studied them as they transformed so as to try and find something that might help werewolves control their inner wolf. Right before he left to continue south, he finally gathered his courage and asked the leader if he could have a blood sample, the leader agreed and during his travels, whenever he had a spare day or two (which wasn't often) he would study the sample and compare it to normal blood and the blood of a cat who had been turned. He hoped that someday he might have an epiphany and stumble across a cure or something to Lycanthropy.

From the Himalayas, Harry made his way through India to New Delhi and then all the way down to Sri Lanka, apparently hobgoblins aren't nearly as distempered as they are made out to be, wraiths don't want to kill everyone and Harpies really are quite nasty creatures. Harry then remembered what the Atlantians had said about the lost continent of Lemuria which supposedly existed between the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, so he sailed out towards the Maldives which were around where the two bodies came together. As he was passing the tiny island of Dhapparu in the Laccadive Sea (right between the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea) he noticed an Ouroboros, a cross between a snake and a dragon which was eating it's own tail. It was very faint and Harry wouldn't have noticed it except he had been looking for a nice place to land and saw what looked like a ledge that might be able to serve as a dock of sorts. When he got closer he saw the symbol and then noticed that the ledge was the _perfect_ place to pull up to, like it was made for that. After getting out and packing his boat away, Harry approached an archway in the rock that had just appeared when he touched the ledge, and walked through it. Ten minutes later he finally stopped falling. He had found the ancient entrance to Lemuria, and was greeted by a very surprised young boy whose lunch basket had just been crushed by a man rolling out of a rock and some extremely excited pixie-like creatures.

Harry spent a year on the continent of Lemuria, they hadn't had visitors from the 'Other World' for nearly ten thousand years, it had turned into a legend, a myth and were more than welcoming. The two kingdoms, Kamuri Kandam and Pandyam, even put aside their difference to show him around. Harry finally came to the conclusion that the whole continent and all it's inhabitants had just faded or shifted into another dimension, it was the only explanation they took into account the fact that the continent was the only one in a completely oceanic world. The people there had evolved slightly different from those in Harry's world, they were as black as night and each person was at least 200cm in height. They were some of the most graceful people Harry had ever seen; he felt like a clumsy child in comparison. The culture was a beautiful blend of what seemed like African, Indian and Arabic cultures, it was otherworldly, literally. He walked across the continent in the general direction of where Madagascar might be, on his world. The landscape was as beautiful and alien and the people; it had towering rock spires, red crystal cliffs, pure white rivers and almost golden plains. Along the way, almost _none_ of the creatures and beings looked like the ones in his world, every one was slightly different and there were many that just didn't exist there. There were Genies – who were apparently extinct in Harry's world, double-headed birds, silver Grims, walking skeletons, a completely different set of elementals, Sirens, deep purple, almost black panthers, many species of giraffe-like creatures, a wide variety of reptiles that looked remarkably like dinosaurs, the list went on and on. But best of all, it was home to thousands of phoenixes, in every colour of the rainbow. When he reached the far end of the continent Harry looked for a rock face similar to the one he fell out of, once found he walked through it and found himself on the tiny island of Mauritius, just off the coast of Madagascar, in a pirate cemetery. This made for a very interesting few days; who knew pirates were so obsessed with magic?

Harry spent a little over a month in Madagascar and then sailed to South Africa and Cape Town. He then packed the boat away again and walked to Zimbabwe and the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe. There was a group of wizards who had just finished exploring the ruins and were headed up to the head of the Nile and then to Egypt, they invited him along but he politely declined. He wasn't ready to go to Egypt where a certain red headed curse breaker would probably be. Harry had not been able to get Bill out of his mind and heart even after all these years, and not for lack of trying. He had met hundreds of witches and wizards on his travels, he had even tried to start something with a few of them but none of them could hold his attention. He had kept moving and told himself that was why he hadn't had a serious relationship, that he was a traveler and as such, couldn't get involved with anyone. It was a load of bull, but he ignored the part of his mind which kept reminding him of this. As he was crossing back over to the Western part of Africa he wondered if even coming to the continent was a good idea, he could have just gone North from India into the Middle East and then to Europe.

Harry shook his head, he would have to face Bill eventually and anyway, he probably wasn't even in Africa anymore, it had been almost ten years; Bill was probably happily married with kids by now, it's not like Harry had a shot to begin with. He face palmed as he leaned his staff on the bookcase and collapsed into his desk chair, this was stupid, he was being completely insane. He needed to move on, and he had known it for years now; so why couldn't he? Harry glared at his pack which was sitting innocently by the couch and decided to blame it. It was all the pack's fault. Oh Merlin, who was he kidding? He had fallen head over heels for Bill and the saying 'absence makes the heart grown fonder' had become his own personal plague. He rummaged around on his shelves until he finally found what he called his 'Bill Journal', it was where he wrote down all the annoying thoughts about Bill before he shoved them behind some extremely strong mental shields where he could ignore them for an indefinite period of time. After he finished 'dealing with' his Bill problem he documented his day in one of his hundreds of 'official' journals and finished with a long entry in his personal journal.

After Zimbabwe Harry made his way to Angola where he was astounded to see a magnificent waterfall, he was not expecting to see that in Africa, but he sat and admired it nonetheless. From there he passed into the Congo where he spent two months volunteering in a muggle children's school, and helping teach the few magical people around. Then he traveled up the western coast until he reached Morocco where he finally gathered the courage to work his way to Eastern Africa. Trying to put off hitting Northern Egypt for as long as possible, he walked across the Sahara to the headwaters of the Nile instead of to Cairo or Alexandria as most people did. He used the rational that it would be great to float down the Nile, and it was, but deep down he knew he was just prolonging the inevitable. In the end, he was actually really glad he went down the Nile because he got to see the different falls and the amazing structures built on the banks. As he approached Northern Egypt he abandoned the Nile and cut inland to find the city of Mut, this just showed how desperate he was to put off arriving in Cairo. The logical part of his mind stopped telling him off and just called him pathetic, which was true, this behaviour was getting ridiculous. But again, he ignored that little voice.

However, there was only so long he could avoid Northern Egypt, so, after two months he finally went to Cairo, approaching it from the desert. He spent the night just outside Cairo and walked into the city in the morning, it was the 25th of March, 2008. Harry had been traveling for almost 11 years. He wasn't really sure what he had been expecting, maybe seeing someone he knew everywhere he turned or being followed around by red heads, but this wasn't it. He got the same feelings he did with every new city; excitement, joy, a bit overwhelmed but mostly anticipation. He couldn't wait to meet the people, see the sights, explore every little nook and cranny, find a coffee or tea shop to sit and watch people, try all the new foods, learn about the culture, and last but not least, find every single book shop and expand his library. So, he wandered into Cairo and followed the magic into the wizarding centre of the city. The first few hours of wandering around the local shops – he tended to avoid the tourist areas – went fine and he was almost able to forget that he was worried about seeing someone he knew. However, that wasn't the case for very long.

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><p>Harry was sitting next to the fountain in the middle of the wizarding square just finishing his lunch when a shadow fell over him and a shockingly familiar voice washed over him. Bill had found him. If he had been on his own, he probably would have smacked his face into his palm. But he didn't because it was at that moment he realised that Bill didn't recognise him, which shouldn't really have surprised him at all. Harry had changed a lot over the last 11 years, not to mention the fact that his clothing was completely different from what anyone from England would <em>ever<em> wear. He had close-fitting tan pants, a lightweight white shirt which hung open at the front through which you could see some of his necklaces, knee-high leather boots, a vivid purple Kumari scarf served as a belt and sheath for his saber, his black, shoulder-length hair, which had gained a few highlights from so much time in the sun, was held down with a white Indian embroidered bandanna, and he had put a small amount of black kohl under and around his bright green eyes both to reduce glare and because it just looked nice. This was in addition to the fact that he was at least four shades darker than normal. It was no wonder Bill didn't recognise him; it's not everyday the saviour of the wizarding world walks around looking like a desert pirate.

Bill, on the other hand was still recognizable, if he did look a bit older. However, Harry had only ever seen him wearing clothes made for British weather, now he was...well, he looked _extremely _attractive – to Harry, that is. Bill had his brilliant red hair tied back in a low ponytail, his fang earring had been joined by a single obsidian stud, he was wearing loose kakhi cargo pants, a tight black t-shirt and sturdy boots. Harry loved the way the shirt hugged his chest and beautifully accentuated the contours of his finely toned muscles. When Bill sat down next to him, Harry had to work hard to keep his breathing even as every one of the walls he had put up to hold back his feelings about Bill came crashing down.

It took a few minutes for Harry's mind to catch up with the conversation – that was one good thing about having a lot of brain power as well as a well organised mind, you could think and talk coherently at the same time – but when he did he realised he was telling Bill all about his names. See, sometimes when Harry learned a new language he would acquire a new name; this started when he wanted to leave 'Harry Potter' behind and desperately searched for a new name which the Inuit of Canada provided him with, it soon became a habit. He had names from all over, they totaled around twelve though there were some nicknames which he didn't really count. When Harry had told Bill all of his names he asked him to choose one, there was no way he was going to go by Harry. If Bill didn't recognise him then he sure as hell wasn't going to tell him. After a few minutes of deliberation Bill decided to use Harry's Afrikaans name, Reisiger Leer, or Reis for short.

Bill and Reis hit it off and made plans to have Bill show Reis around Cairo. They spent three months exploring tombs, walking through monuments, wandering marketplaces, and just getting to know one another in general. Reis even helped him break a few curses which had been particularly nasty and belligerent. Bill couldn't believe his luck, he had found someone who he enjoyed spending time with, and he was so beautiful that Bill thought he resembled a god; others areound him seemed to think so too, if their looks were anything to go by. Bill was happy that he had finally moved on from his seriously annoying crush on Harry Potter; there was the slight problem that he didn't know if Reis was gay or not but he decided it didn't really matter and that he would find out eventually. The two of them were having a good time and Bill had stopped thinking about Harry so much. He even got to the point where he could ignore his and Reis' age gap, a ten year difference didn't seem as wrong when both were over 25.

It was about two weeks into his stay in Cairo that Harry came to the happy conclusion that Bill was gay. Harry had been 'testing the waters' so to say for a few days; he hadn't tried to hide his glances, he would 'accidentally' brush up against Bill as he walked next to him, he stood just a little too close and he wore clothing that just about screamed 'I'm gay, come hither!' If Harry had still been the Harry Bill knew from before, he would never have been so overt or obvious; that Harry was shy and unsure of himself. This Harry – Reis – was outgoing and secure, he had no such inhibitions, he flirted and flaunted to his heart's content; probably because of the sense of anonymity the Reis alias gave him. However, this wasn't 'new' Harry's typical personality, it wasn't how he'd acted all the time since he left England, but there was something about being near Bill... Anyway, the two of them had just visited the Sphinx and were sitting in a small tea shop chatting about anything and everything, when a man a few years older than Harry came up to their table to say hello to Bill. They talked for a few minutes, Bill introduced Harry as his 'Apprentice to all things Egyptian', the guy introduced himself as Charles, they chatted about meaningless dribble for five minutes or so and then Charles left. If asked, Harry would not have been able to tell you what they talked about, he barely remembered the guy's name.

"Sorry about that, Reis." Bill said as Charles walked away. "He can be a bit..."

"Enthusiastic?" Harry supplied.

"That's one way to put it." Bill said with a laugh, "I was going to say annoying."

"Ah, yes. Well, since you don't seem to like him much, I don't feel bad admitting that I can't remember a single thing he said. Who was he again?" Harry asked.

"Oh, um." Bill shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat, he liked Reis, he really did, and he was pretty sure Reis had been flirting with him over the last few days but he didn't know how he would react to what he said next, "Well, he and I used to go out. I supposed you could say we were boyfriends for a while. It didn't work out though."

"Oh, that's too bad." Harry said with a pitying smile, but inside he was doing a victory dance; not only was Bill certifiably gay but he was also single! "I hope it wasn't a messy split, those can get pretty nasty."

"Well, it wasn't for me, I was the one who broke things off; my heart just wasn't in it. It never was really." Which was true, while Charles had been a nice enough guy, Bill hadn't loved him, nowhere near. Every time Bill was with Charles, he would wish he had black hair and green eyes, and every time he woke up in the morning to see Charles or gave him a small kiss on the lips, Bill would wish it was Harry. It was completely ridiculous and utterly mad to have these sorts of feelings when Bill didn't even really know Harry but that didn't stop his heart from crying every time he did something with Charles. So, he had ended things; that was how it went for his grand total of _four_ relationships. He turned to look at Reis, now there was someone who didn't make him think of Harry, he could look at Reis and not wish it was Harry. So, he decided to see if there could be something here with Reis and added with a coy smile, "I guess I've just been waiting for the right person to come along."

Harry's heart soared, if it could sing it would be belting out an opera right now. "I know what you mean, you can have as many or as few relationships as you want but when it comes down to it, he is either right for you or he's not. Simple."

Bill grinned, Reis had just said, in a roundabout way, that he liked guys! He was so happy he might have been willing to wear a kilt and dance a jig. But now was not the time, he still needed to double check. "I'm guessing you're speaking from experience here?"

"Yes, I've tried things with a few guys, even a couple girls, but they just didn't work out. I did find someone many, many years ago, but it was impossible." Harry didn't realise he had said the last bit out loud until Bill said.

"So did I, but again, it was also impossible." Bill mused. Like Harry, he didn't think he had actually _said_ it.

Harry figured this was the case and wisely kept his mouth shut, but he couldn't help but wonder who Bill could be referring to. Was it someone he knew? Could it maybe be him? However, those were awkward questions for another time.

The next two and a half months were bliss, for both Harry and Bill. They spent a few weeks after the tea shop incident dancing around each other until they finally came to the mutual conclusion that they like each other. Then they each enjoyed their first real relationship, not that they said this explicitly; but it was understood that even though they were 28 and 37, this was the most 'in to someone' either of them had been. Eventually though, Harry heard about the Library at Alexandria and many other landmarks, wizarding and otherwise, further north and he started to feel the pull. This time though, he ignored it; he was having a really nice time with Bill and didn't want to leave, so he didn't. Then Bill told him that Gringotts wanted Bill back in Alexandria for a few months, and he knew the fates finally liked him. So, for the first time in all his years traveling, Harry went to a new place _with_ someone.

Bill was having the time of his life, literally, when he heard from Gringotts that they would like him back in Alexandria. At first he was reluctant to accept the post because he was happy with Reis and didn't want to leave him, but then he remembered that Reis had been mentioning Alexandria more and more often. So, even though they weren't really living together and their relationship wasn't officially serious, Bill asked Reis if he would like to accompany him to Alexandria. The look of excitement on Reis' face when Bill told him Gringotts had found another chamber under the Library at Alexandria as well as a tunnel system that led to the submerged Lighthouse, was worth the few hours of anguished indecision on Bill's part.

When they decided that they would be going to Alexandria together, Harry suggested that they walk instead of apparate or take a portkey. He didn't know if Bill would like the idea, but because he had seemed so interested in Harry's travels he thought Bill might enjoy it. Bill readily agreed and after Harry carefully hid anything in the tent that might connect Reis to Harry – which made him feel extremely guilty for a bit – they set out. Two weeks later they arrived in Alexandria and had an awkward moment where they didn't know if they would actually be living together or not. They had moved at the same time, and been living – and sleeping together occasionally – during the trip but didn't know if they were going to move in with each other. Harry finally decided that it would be best to have separate apartments because he didn't know how to tell Bill that Reis was Harry and he didn't want to have to keep everything hidden away in his tent all the time. So Bill went to the accommodation provided by Gringotts – which was actually quite nice – and Harry found a quiet flat above a book shop, which he fell in love with. They spent the majority of their time in the Ancient Library of Alexandria; to Muggles it had been destroyed by Caesar during the Siege of Alexandria but a few valiant wizards had banded together to protect the Library. All the Mugles could see were a few pillars and a bunch a ruins but to wizards it was one great fount of knowledge. Harry and Bill spent the next eight months in Alexandria, Bill working on the caverns and tunnels, then just helping out with general Gringotts business. Harry spent the time doing what he did best; learning and exploring. And together, they were magnificent; the rugged but beautiful curse breaker who opened new doors and braved the unknown, and the graceful but powerful traveler who never stopped. Anyone who looked at them could tell that they were just made for each other.

However, the longer he spent with Bill, the more guilty Harry became. At first he was fine with Bill calling him 'Reis' but as time went by he longed to hear his real name pass those lips, he wanted Bill to scream Harry in the middle of the night, not Reis. He wanted their little notes to have Harry written at the top and he wanted to sign with the name he had run away from so long ago. But the longer he waited, the harder it was to find a time to tell him, so he didn't. It was inevitable though, it was only a matter of time until Bill found out his true identity.

Bill and Harry sat on the steps of an ancient Roman amphitheater, watching the sun set. Bill looked over at what he still thought of as his young lover; after all, there was quite an age difference. The last light of the day was playing across Reis' face, making his skin glow even more golden than before. Bill let his eyes travel down the other man's body, his open white shirt was fluttering in the evening breeze, showing off Reis' four necklaces, they were beautiful hanging there against his tanned, lean chest. Bill remembered each and every story that went with them. Reis' ever-present pack was lying off to the side, forgotten for the moment. Bill let his gaze travel up Reis' toned, tightly clad legs and rested on his face. Reis' hair was falling haphazardly around his face, he had foregone any form of restraint today. Then Reis turned his head and smiled straight at Bill.

And then, as Bill stared into the eyes of the man he had fallen so completely for, it struck him that this was the first time he had done so. In all the months he had known Reis for, Bill had never really looked deep into his eyes, he had never seen them for what they were. If he had, he may have realised the true identity of his love sooner. He had known that Reis had green eyes, it was hard to miss, but when Bill really focused on them he saw the familiarity in them, they were Harry's eyes. They were the most vivid green, with depths that spoke of trials and tribulations, of joy and tears, of hardship and blessings. They were the eyes of his Harry, the Harry he thought he had gotten over when he met Reis.

Reis – no, _Harry –_ must have seen the look of recognition, the dawning comprehension, flash through Bill's eyes because he suddenly broke their gaze.

"Bill..."

Bill blinked as all the pieces fell into place, how could he have missed it? A man, 28 years old, ten years younger, traveling for 11 years, from England, powerful, wouldn't tell him his real name, amazing stories with a few bits left out. It was so obvious!

"Harry?" He asked almost silently.

Harry stumbled to his feet and looked down at Bill, guilty and scared, "I'm sorry, Bill." He breathed, bending over to grab his bag, "I'm so sorry." And then he turned on the spot and disappeared.

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><p>Author's Note: I was going to leave it as "Harry met Bill, they had a great time, Bill found out his secret and then Harry left." But I figured you would all hunt me down and kill me in my sleep. There will be more BillHarry coming up in the next chapter but it will mostly be in my story 'Egypt' which will be coming around...sometime.

Warning: Because I haven't figured out the whole Europe part I'm just going to skip to when he gets back.

Reviews are _amazing_, and welcomed with open arms. They are also rewarded with a shirtless Harry in tight pants...


	4. Coming Home Part I

**Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure**

**Chapter 4 – Coming Home Part I**

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><p>Disclaimer: Not mine.<p>

Author's note: I've updated twice today, aren't you proud!

Enjoy!

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><p>As he was working his way around Europe and the Middle East, Harry realised that what he really wanted, more than knowledge, more than beautiful landscapes, more than traveling, was someone to hold; and that someone was Bill. From his brief time in Egypt he knew that Bill was interested in him, or Reis, as the case might have been. But it wasn't until the goblins from the buried city of Akakor (who he kept in touch with) contacted him, that Harry's thoughts really focused entirely on Bill, which caused his beautifully constructed mental walls to fall a bit. The goblins asked him to help them get to know the outside world, they wanted to meet the 'Surface Dwellers'; Harry thought it would be a good idea to start with the goblins on the surface before introducing them to the cut-throat culture of wizards. However, he also thought it would be good to have <em>some<em> sort of wizard contact as well, so he looked Bill up. A couple of instant goblin notes later and Harry knew that Bill was just finishing up in China and would probably be asking about another international post soon, as he had been doing recently. Harry recommended Bill as a type of ambassador, a wizard liaison. If the speed of Bill's acceptance was any indication, Bill was still single – he hadn't had to ask for special permission to bring someone with him – which made Harry both happy and guilty at the same time. Happy, because it meant that he hadn't moved on from Harry which in turn meant that he didn't hate Harry for lying to him. And guilty, because it could mean that Bill was waiting for him, putting his life on hold, or that Harry had really hurt him and he hadn't recovered yet. With a sigh, Harry carefully ordered and filed away these conflicting and slightly disturbing thoughts about Bill. He then went to bed, his feelings carefully controlled and deep emotions hidden.

Bill knew it would be useless to try and follow Harry, he could have gone anywhere, so he just sat, unmoving, in the fading light, staring wistfully at where the love of his life had been just moments ago. And he was the love of his life; at first, as Harry he had been a sort of forbidden fruit and then, as Reis, he had been a dream come true. Now, he knew that they were made for each other, there was obviously a reason he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Harry until Reis came along. Bill couldn't believe he hadn't seen it, and he couldn't believe he had just let Harry/Reis run away. Looking around he decided that he couldn't stay in Alexandria, or in Cairo, there were too many memories; so, he contacted Gringotts and inquired about other international postings. The goblins were more than happy to send Bill around the world, they were extremely impressed with his work and often wished there were three of him; not that they would ever tell anyone that, after all, he was a human. That was how Bill found himself standing outside a small office in the middle of nowhere Australia, the next years he worked in Australia and China, every now and then he would be called to a Gringotts branch in Japan, Greece, India or Russia for some job the goblins needed done; they _really_ liked him. He was extremely grateful that he had a diverse enough set of abilities to be able to go wherever the goblins wanted to send him. And the goblins were pleased that they didn't have to outright _ask_ him to take on these special jobs – he was always offering. After all, they couldn't be seen favouring a human, it would be bad for their reputation.

It was eight months into his scheduled year in China that things really started getting interesting for Bill. He was approached by both the head of the Chinese branch of Gringotts and Ragnock, the king of the goblins. Apparently the goblins of Akakor had asked Harry to help them re-connect with the world; Harry had directed them to Gringotts because he felt it was best if they kept the existence of Akakor a secret between goblins. Harry's reasoning was that it would be easiest to have the two goblin nations work together before the wizards had a chance to exploit it. However, Harry had stuck a note in about Bill, saying that it would probably be good to have a wizard around and that Bill was responsible and extremely trustworthy. Apparently knowing Harry, or Sin Miedo Viajero as they called him, had it's benefits. Bill had accepted immediately and spent two years in the lost city of Akakor, working as the one and only wizard ambassador to the buried city. During those two years he saw many amazing things and met some truly wonderful beings, there were only a few other beings there and there was a grand total of four wizards. Needless to say, Bill had a very educational two years which he greatly enjoyed but was ready for some good old English company. He hadn't been able to write to his family except for right before he left, all he had said was that he had a new assignment from Gringotts and he wouldn't be able to write for a while. The family spent many hours speculating as to what he might be doing; the guesses ranged from a romantic elopement (Ginny) to being swallowed by some monster in a random tomb (Ron), but it was the twins who had the most accurate guess, they said he was a spy working on a top-secret mission. After a few months though they gave up and decided to just wait until he got back. After over a year of no contact, half of the family believed him to be dead and the other half believed he'd 'Pulled a Harry' and run away. The twins still firmly believed he was on a top secret mission, which annoyed their mother to no end; according to her, they were too old for such things.

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><p>Bill stood outside the gate to the Burrow, he had just finished in Akakor. He was going to send an owl in advance but had he realised that he would probably arrive before it so ditched the idea. He was worried about going in, from some of the rumors he heard at Gringotts when he stopped there briefly to debrief, most of his friends and family had thought something happened to him. His fellow curse breakers were quite annoyed that he wouldn't tell then what he had been doing but when Snarltooth, their boss, started yelling at them they had shut up. No one, not even tough curse breakers, wanted to face an angry (or even slightly annoyed) goblin. He had finished his business in Cairo in under ten hours and hurried back to England, he loved his job and enjoyed working with the goblins but he <em>needed<em> get get away for a bit. 24/7 for two years was enough. So, here he was, staring at his childhood home, wondering how he was going to explain his absence and lack of communication.

Molly was absolutely thrilled when the front door opened and one of her 'lost' sons returned – she was one of the only ones who still held out hope that both he _and_ Harry would come back.

"Oh Bill!" She shouted as she gathered as much of him into a hug as she could, "I can't believe you're back!"

"Hey, mum." Bill said with a grin; he loved coming home, his mother was always there to give him a hug. It was a good thing that wizards tended to live longer than Muggles because she was over 60 years old and still 'running the Burrow' as she liked to say.

"Bill, we've missed you! Come in, come in, I don't know where you've been these last years but you're way too skinny. Goodness only knows what you've been up to but that's the darkest I've ever seen you! You spend too much time in the sun! Those goblins work you too much, they should know a red head shouldn't be outside for hours on end! I think I'm going to have to give them a good talking to."

Bill laughed, if only she knew he had spent the last two years underground! The only reason his skin was so dark was because of the light given off by the strange crystals that illuminated the great caverns of Akakor. "I know, I know. I'll be more careful. Now, what is producing that lovely smell?"

"Oh, I'm testing out different types of apple pie for Susan's birthday, she turns 10 in a week you know! Well, I would hope you know, you've been gone for so long but you shouldn't be allowed to forget things like that." Molly said as she all but pushed Bill into the kitchen. "I still can't believe Charlie married a French girl! But Fleur is nice enough, and Susan is an absolute angel!"

Bill just nodded in agreement, that was all he could do because his mouth was full of delectable apple pie.

"I don't know why you still wear that earring but I guess you wouldn't be you without it. But your hair, oh what _are_ you doing to it? You know, your clothing is rather odd; I know people in Egypt dress different but that is odd. Did you go somewhere? Were you even in Egypt? Oh goodness, _where_ have you been?" Molly sat down and finally stopped talking long enough for Bill to get a word in edgewise.

"Well, um." Bill said hesitantly, he knew his mother wasn't going to like the fact that he couldn't tell he where he'd been. "See, Gringotts had this...thing...and needed my help with it but, um. I can't really say any more."

Molly hurmuphed. "I guess the twins were right."

Bil looked at her like she had grown another head.

"Oh, I suppose you don't know, we were all trying to guess what you were doing. The twins were adamant that you were on a top-secret mission somewhere. They will never let the rest of us forget, oh well."

Bill grinned. "Oh they will so disappointed when they realise that top-secret means I can't tell _anyone_, this is going to be fun!"

Molly smacked the back of Bill's head with a tea towel. "You are much too old to be torturing your brothers." Bill just reached for more apple pie.

The reunion that evening was nice and quite. The only people who actually lived at the Burrow full-time were Molly and Arthur. Everyday there was at least one relative for one of the meals but more often than not, an entire family would come by for lunch or dinner or both. Tonight though, it was just Molly, Arthur and Bill, they had a nice chat and Bill got to catch up on the family gossip (which was just about as complicated as Hogwarts') and he got to figure out how to phrase his stories just right. However, unbeknownest to Bill, Molly had sent out a flurry of owls (the Burrow had somehow acquired a collection) to every member of the family telling them there was 'urgent news' and to come in the morning. So, when Bill came down the stairs for breakfast he was greeted by a room of Weasleys, a very _full_ room of Weasleys. Needless to say, it was a really good thing he had figured out exactly what he was going to say. Bill also found that if surrounded himself with the _many_ kids and told them interesting stories, the adults would either listen and think he was exaggerating, or ignore him because they figured he was making it up. The twins were an exception to this, they both listened and believed, which meant that Bill had to be careful with exactly which details he used. After a few days, the novelty of Bill being back was wearing off and he got some peace and quiet, which he usually spent flying in the clouds or just laying on the grass – both things you couldn't exactly do underground.

As he stared out the window of the Burrow, Bill let his mother's voice wash over him; he had been back for two weeks now and she was trying to iron out the details of his niece's 10th birthday party. Charlie, Fleur and their daughter were arriving that afternoon and they still needed to decide where everyone was sleeping. Over the years the Burrow had been expanded (out, not up) to accommodate the ever-growing family but it was still a tight fit. Bill wondered for what must have been the millionth time what he was doing with his life; he had been pining over the _same_ guy for the last 17 years. He was 41 and had nothing to show for it – except for many work-related accomplishments and adventures. His mother had given up trying to marry him off almost ten years ago, which both relieved and depressed him; it meant he didn't have to listen to her constant nagging but it also meant that she, consciously or subconsciously, thought he was no longer good enough to bother with. Or at least the way Bill saw it when he was depressed, like now. The funny thing was, he had given up on himself too. After finding out that Reis was actually Harry, he had realised that there really was only one guy for him; and that guy just wasn't around. Every now and then he would wonder where Harry was, he took wild guesses as to what new and exciting expedition he was on.

The party was a great success and everyone had an amazing time, it was one of those rare times where there were more Weasleys attending than missing. But seeing all the happy families around just reminded Bill, once again, of what he was missing. It was times like these that he wished Harry would just come back

Bill lay on his back in the snow, staring up at the black winter sky speckled with thousands of stars, he wondered if Harry would be looking at the same stars or if he was somewhere in the south looking up at a foreign sky. Just then, a streak of silver lit up the night; at 41, Bill knew he was too old to wish upon a shooting star but that didn't stop him.

"Star light, star bright,

Shooting star I see tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have my Harry here tonight."

Bill shook his head and smiled at his foolishness as he walked back to the house. That night when he crawled into bed he pulled out a carefully tied pile of papers, he fell asleep with a letter clutched tight to his chest.

_Bill,_

_You'll never guess what I found today. This Library never ceases to amaze me!_

_Meet for coffee at the corner cafe at sunset? I can't wait to show you._

_All my love,_

_Reis_

A single tear rolled down Bill's cheek, unnoticed by the lonely man dreaming of his love.

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><p>Author's note: I know, sad ending. But don't despair, Harry comes home next chapter! If it helps, you can have Bill with just boxers (he's a boxers, not briefs, man) if you review!<p> 


	5. Coming Home Part II

**Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure**

**Chapter 5 – Coming Home Part II**

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><p>Disclaimer: Not mine. Full stop.<p>

Author's note: You should be extremely proud of me, so many chapters in such little time. I've been procrastinating and the current method is writing this story.

Author's note (#2): I know I uploaded this yesterday but I changed the age of Regulus, he's now 15 instead of 10...sorry for the mistake.

Enjoy!

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><p><em>Previously:<em>

"_Harry?" He asked almost silently._

_Harry stumbled to his feet and looked down at Bill, guilty and scared, "I'm sorry, Bill." He breathed, bending over to grab his bag, "I'm so sorry." And then he turned on the spot and disappeared._

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><p>Harry apparated with no real idea of where he wanted to go, he just needed to get out. The three D's were rather superfluous when you had a fourth, desperation. He appeared at the top of the Great Pyramid and collapsed onto the ancient stone. Bill knew. Bill knew Harry was Reis. Harry couldn't believe it, he had managed to go all those months without Bill finding out and just when things were <em>perfect<em>, he had to go and discover the truth. The look in Bill's eyes when he finally put the pieces together was almost too much for Harry to bear; at first it was confusion, then disbelief, then comprehension, then...something else. Harry didn't know exactly what it was but it seemed to be betrayal. And Harry completely understood that, he had betrayed Bill's confidence and trust. Harry had known all along who Bill was and what he liked, he had an advantage over Bill, he could have manipulated him into liking him. Bill was happy with Reis, Bill knew Reis, Bill didn't know Harry. Bill still thought of Harry as a child, he had said so; they had a very short conversation concerning Harry Potter in which Bill had referred to him as a "great kid", an "amazing boy". He even referred to him as a young boy who had been _forced_ into maturity too soon, a kid who became a man before his time. This had hurt Harry deeply and Bill had noticed that he wasn't completely comfortable with the topic of conversation so they had moved on to other subjects, but Harry couldn't forget what Bill had said, no matter how hard he tried. Bill would always see Harry as a kid, and now that he knew Reis was Harry, he would think of Reis as a kid too. It had taken a few days for Bill to come to grips with the fact that Reis was so much younger than him; now that he knew he had actually known Harry as a child he would never be able to think of him the same way. How could Bill comfortable sleep with someone the same age as his baby brother? He couldn't.

Harry curled into a ball on the rapidly cooling stone and buried his head in his arms. He fell into a fitful sleep and woke up at dawn sore and aching. It was then that he realised where he was, this was where he and Bill had shared their first kiss. It had been just as the sun fell into the desert, lighting up the sand in a spectacular sea of colour. Bill had leaned into him, placing his head on Harry's shoulder, reversing their usual roles; it was normally Harry who sought the comfort of Bill's arms, and they had sat there until the last rays of sun faded from the sky. Harry had shifted nearer to Bill and in that moment, their heads touched and their lips pressed softly together. It had been the most perfect kiss of his life, the most perfect moment. There was nothing fiery or passionate about the kiss, it had been more like a melding of souls. As they deepened the kiss it had felt as though their very spirits were dancing together. It left both of them breathless and in a state of wonder, neither had ever imagined feeling so complete.

As Harry watched the sun continue it's rise into the sky he felt his heart break into a thousand pieces, they had been so in love and he had ruined it. He didn't know what to do, so he did what he had done before he got to Egypt; he pulled out his 'Bill Journal' and wrote down everything. Then he shoved the piles of memories and feelings behind impressive and impenetrable walls. He got out his map of the world and picked up where he left off, he apparated to Suez and sailed down the Gulf of Suez, into the Red Sea all the way down to Yemen. Then he started walking the Middle East and Europe. He had been in Turkey for two months when the goblins from Akakor contacted him through an enchanted crystal (it could send a written message to any other crystal) asking for his help in becoming part of the world again, he sent a message off to Ragnock and included a note about Bill. Harry hadn't been able to keep Bill off his mind and had been keeping track of where he was – not that he was a creepy stalker or anything, he just wanted to make sure his love was alive and well. This was how he knew Bill would be interested in Akakor, according to Harry's extremely reliable sources (it is very hard for the wind to lie), Bill had been seeking international post after international post, he figured that an ancient buried city was just about as international as you could get. Harry was pleased when Bill accepted, at least now he knew that he would be kept busy and interested. So, he once again hid his thoughts about Bill and finished up in Turkey. He was in an old, out of the way, book shop in Greece when an old woman went stiff next to him and spoke in an obviously prophet voice.

"_The Man of Many Names has come. Ink will run red as the story begins anew, a love long buried will be brought to light and a star will fly as his Man of Debt calls. Two shall be one again when the twelfth year comes to an end."_

It didn't take a genius to work out the prophesy and Harry was a genius so it was easy. He realised that he had just over two and a half years to finish his travels. He also figured out that it was time to stop shoving away his feelings for Bill, he needed to understand and accept them instead of ignore them as he had been.

Harry spent the remainder of the year in Greece and then walked down along the Mediterranean to Western Europe then up through Central Europe and into the Nordic countries. As fall of 2012 approached, he sailed across to Ireland then up to Scotland and finally walked through Wales and back to England.

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><p>At 7:30 pm on the 18th of December, 2012, Harry walked into the Leaky Cauldron and rented a room from Tom, who was more than happy to assist the imposing stranger going by the name of John Smith. As Harry sat in the pub eating his dinner he was extremely aware of the looks he was receiving, after all, it's not often you see an outsider act as though he knew the pub like the back of his hand – he had asked if the room in the back left corner was available, it was the room which looked out on both the alley and the Muggle street. It didn't help that he looked rather odd; half of his shoulder-length black hair was tied up in a messy, braided knot at the back of his head and the rest seemed to have a mind of it's own, he had on a pair of khaki slacks, a black ribbed turtle neck, a beautifully engraved leather belt, and a dark, ankle-length heavy coat, not a cloak. The top was fitted almost as a suit jacket but it flared out slightly as it hit his waist and fell to the ground with a flourish, you could barely make out two slits that ran up the sides to mid-thigh, allowing for easy movement. Despite the fact that it was extremely heavy it didn't look bulky on the man; but that might have been because of the way he held himself, the ease with which he wore it or the fact that he was tall and thin. Either way, it looked good on him. The patrons also noticed that there was a staff or walking stick – they couldn't tell which – leaning against the counter next to him. Whether the man knew it or not, he was the talk of the pub that evening.<p>

The next morning Harry made an attempt to organise the inside of his tent, took a long, luxurious shower, made sure his clothing was clean, failed to tame his hair and then went downstairs for breakfast. He knew that the entire pub had been talking about him last night and was expecting a rather interesting welcome; sure enough, the pub had about twice as many patrons and went completely silent when he walked in. With a grin, Harry decided to have a bit of fun.

"Good morning everyone. Sorry for being so rude last night, I didn't mean to ignore you all, I was just rather tired." Everyone stared at him silently. "Okay, well, I guess you didn't mind after all." Then he turned and sat down at the bar with a dramatic swirl of his coat.

The pub erupted in whispers and Harry couldn't help but be amazing at British wizards' great ability to gossip; it was quite impressive really. When he finished off his coffee he stood up, left a hefty tip and said, "Thank you for the breakfast, Tom. It was delicious." You could have heard a pin drop, the pub was so silent; no one had told him Tom's name.

Laughing to himself, Harry walked out the door and apparated to Grimmauld Place, he was pleased to see that someone had finally fixed up the house; it no longer looked decrepit, or at least the outside didn't. He knocked on the door and was pleased to _not_ hear the screams of Mrs. Black, it seemed that Sirius had finally found a way to silence her. The door opened and a little round face with black ringlets appeared in the gap.

The little girl frowned at him, for someone who couldn't be more than 12 or 13, this was quite an impressive frown. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Oh, um. Hi." Harry said slowly, he hadn't expected to meet a kid, and didn't really know how to deal with them. The only kids he had any experience with were in Tibet, Lemuria and the Congo, and in all those places he was in the role of teacher, albeit the fun one. "I'm a friend of Sirius', is he here?"

She glared at him again. "But I've never seen you before, I've met _all_ of Daddy's friends, so who are you?"

"Daddy?" Harry asked in shock. "Sirius had _kids_? Oh, Merlin help the world, we're all doomed!"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Right, well, I'm a really old friend of his. I haven't seen him in a while so that's why you haven't met me."

The girl continued to look at him with a less-than-pleasant expression. "You must be kinda stupid because you aren't very good at answering questions. I've asked you three times and you still don't seem to understand. I want to know who you are. The only reason I haven't pulled The Pranker is because I like your coat."

"The Pranker? That sounds both extremely amusing and extremely dangerous. I'm glad to hear that Sirius hasn't lost his touch." Harry was about to continue but he saw the little girl starting to reach for a little lever next to the door. "But, like you said, I haven't answered your question." The hand returned to her side. "I'm Harry, a really old friend of your dad's, I – " He was cut off.

"Harry?" The girl asked in disbelief. "As in Harry Potter?"

Harry's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "Um, yeah. That would be – " Once again he was interrupted, this time by a screech.

"DAD!" The little girl yelled at a pitch that should be reserved for dogs and the like, as she ran into the house. "DAD! It's Harry Potter! Dad! Dad!" Her voiced faded a little as she went up the stairs. "Dad! You have to co – " There was a muffled thump followed by;

"Oomph! Daniella, you know you're not supposed to run around the house. What is so important that you felt the need to use my stomach as a landing pad and my ears as a sounding board?"

"Sorry." Daniella didn't sound sorry at all. "But you _have_ to come to the door _now_! There's a guy there that says he's _Harry Potter_!"

There was complete silence and Harry thought he heard a strangled noise. This was followed immediately the sound of someone running so fast down stairs that they might as well have been falling. Sirius appeared at the bottom of the stairs and looked down the hall at the person framed in the door.

"Harry?" Sirius asked tentatively. "Is that really you?"

"Hey, Sirius. I see you reproduced." Harry said with a grin. "Are you sure there's not a law against that or something? I'm not sure the world can deal with mini-Marauders."

"Holy mother of Merlin!" Sirius yelled, much to his daughter's astonished amusement at his vocabulary. "Bloody hell, Harry, it's you!" He ran the length of the hall and nearly tackled Harry to the ground.

"Woah, Padfoot. No need to strangle me. I'm not going anywhere." Harry said as he returned the hug with equal vigor, he hadn't realised just how much he had missed Sirius until just now, when he was squeezing the breath out of him. Then Sirius started whacking him, "Hey, what are you doing?Stop hitting me!"

"Don't you _ever_ do that again, do you know how worried we all were? Four letters, that's all we got. Fifteen years and _four letters!_ That is absolutely no way to treat your Godfather. You could have been _dead_ for all we knew! Half the people around here think you're dead, the other half think you are never coming back! You can't just leave like that. I don't care where the Bloody Hell you were but don't you ever do that again! I will hunt you down and kill you if you do anything like this, _ever!_" Finally, Sirius stopped accompanying every sentence with a hit and resorted to just hugging the life out of Harry. "I was so worried, I've missed you more than you can imagine."

If Harry was surprised by the intensity of Sirius' reaction he didn't say anything, he just let him hug him for as long as it took for him to calm down. Then, when he had regained his composure, Sirius led him into the kitchen to grab some extra strong butterbeer and snacks before they headed to the sitting room, with Daniella tagging along. Sirius then convinced Harry to tell them all about his travels, he was so interested in what Harry was saying that he missed the fact that he had handed Daniella one of the more potent butterbeers; Harry _did_ notice but he just winked and didn't mention it. He then proceeded to tell them as much about where he went during his travels as he could; after all, he did go to some places that weren't supposed to exist. Sirius raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Harry skimmed over his time in Egypt and didn't mention anything about Bill, but he decided that Harry would tell him in his own time. If he had been paying closer attention to his surroundings he might have realised that the omission was due to the presence of his daughter, but he wasn't.

Daniella felt slightly awkward, sitting with her father and listening to him catch up with an old friend, but there was no way she was going to give up the opportunity to hear about the travels of the legendary Harry Potter, from the man himself. She had been told stories about him since she was born and had learned about his defeat of Voldemort and the great disappearing act he pulled when he graduated, but nothing could have prepared her for the man who was currently in her sitting room. This guys was just...cool.

When Sirius' wife, Christina, returned from shopping with their 15 years old son, Regulus, she knew the house was too quiet for it's own good. It was mid-morning during the Christmas holidays and both Sirius and Daniella were home; 'quite' was not a word that should be used to describe the house at such a time. Regulus walked upstairs to investigate while Christina put the food away in the kitchen, she dropped the carton of eggnog when Regulus came racing back down the stairs.

"Mum!" He yelled, "You _have_ to come upstairs."

Christina put her hand on Regulus' shoulder to stop him from bouncing on the spot like a ten year old. "Stop racing around the house please. Now, what's going on?"

"It's Harry Potter, Mum. He's in the sitting room!" With that, he ran back up the stairs. Christina was left standing in the hall staring blankly at the stairs. Was it true? Could Harry really have come back after all these years? Sirius had held out hope even after years of no contact; if Harry was actually here, Sirius would be ecstatic. When Harry left, he had asked Sirius to move on with his life so he had; but every now and then, her husband would get a lost look in his eyes and she knew he was thinking of his Godson. If Harry was here...well, it would certainly explain the quiet.

Christina poked her head into the sitting room and saw her children sharing a couch (a miracle) both listening with rapt attention (another miracle), along with Sirius, to a man who must have been Harry. Harry was in the middle of a story about his travels in Turkmenistan, which was apparently well-known for it's carpets. Harry was telling her husband and kids about how he had attempted out out-run a dust storm on a flying carpet. He was using his voice and entire body in his explanations and descriptions, he was a captivating storyteller; even Christina found herself being draw into the tale.

It was well past lunch by the time Harry had told them how he got back to England, and after a quick snack, Harry decided it was time to go. As much as he enjoyed talking with Sirius and his kids, he had another stop he had to make.

"Okay guys, I gotta go now."

"No!" Yelled Daniella and Regulus as they grabbed onto the sides of his coat like little kids. "You can't go!" Daniella continued. "You haven't told us all your stories!"

"Yeah." Regulus added. "I want to hear about the South Pole! It sounds cold."

"Sorry kids, but Harry can't stay here forever. We have to share him with everyone else." Sirius knew exactly where Harry needed to go, and why. Sirius gave him a huge hug and whispered in his ear, "Good luck, pup. I hope you don't need it."

Harry reclaimed his coat from the children and walked out the door with the promise to return tomorrow. He apparated to the gate at the front of the Burrow and stood there silently for a few minutes, just studying it. Then, he let his senses spread through the house; he could recognise different people's magic and he gasped as he felt the familiar touch of Bill's. Bill was home. Bill was in that house. Right in front of him. He slowly pushed the gate open and walked up to the door, just as he was about to knock, it flew open and he found himself face-to-face with Bill.

* * *

><p>Bill was sitting at the desk in his room, it was completely covered in books, journals and paper; in fact, it quite resembled the one in Harry's tent, only not <em>nearly<em> as interesting, full or messy. He sighed, the goblins had asked him to write a book about Akakor and, being the naive little man that he was, he agreed. After all, how hard could it be to write a book? The answer was _really hard._ He had been back for more than four months now and he hadn't even finished compiling his notes. Scrubbing his face with his hands he reached for 'Journal # 11', but as he opened it he felt something he hadn't felt in many years, he felt Harry. He didn't know how it was possible but after a few months with him, Bill had been able to sense Harry; he could sense him now. Bill leaped to the window and looked out over the yard, standing in the exact spot he had a few months ago, was a man who could only be Harry. The cold wind and snow whipping around him, completely erasing any modicum of order that his hair may have been coaxed into. Sure, he wasn't wearing those lovely tight pants and open shirt, the coat was new and he didn't have khol around his eyes, but his face was exactly the same. Bill was broken out of his trance when Harry started walking up to the path; Bill raced down to the door and ripped it open just as Harry reached up to knock.

"Hey, Bill." Harry said with a tiny smile.

"Harry!" Bill said breathlessly as he hurried him in from the cold, not that Harry really looked that cold. "It's good to see you, you look good. I like the shirt, black looks good on you."

"Um, thanks." Harry said quietly as Bill emulated his mother and bustled around preparing tea.

Bill settled down across the table from Harry. "You're lucky you know." He said in an equally quiet voice.

"Really? How's that?" Harry asked with a tentative grin.

"Mum is out for the day."

"Ah, I see."

"Yes, you should." Bill said with a bit of a laugh. "If she was here you'd be inundated with Weasleys within minutes."

Harry joined in with a small laugh of his own. "Yeah, I can imagine. How long do you think I can hide from her?"

"Here?" Bill asked incredulously, "I'd give you a half hour, max. Even _you_ wouldn't be able to keep her from noticing something was different. If I didn't already know she was a witch, I'd say it was magic."

"Well, it was worth a shot. So, how have you been?" Harry asked.

"Seriously? How have I been?" Bill replied. "You are probably the only other human in all of Europe who has even the most remote clue. The only one who knows where I've even been!"

"Oh, yeah...about that." Harry looked beyond guilty.

Bill raised his eyebrow, he had been wondering why Harry would recommend him for an extremely impressive job but not contact him at all. "Yeah." He said. "Care to explain? Not that I'm complaining, I loved it, but an explanation would be appreciated."

"Well, um. The Akakorians wanted my help getting to know the world, goblins were the best people to put them in contact with and you were the best wizard for the job."

"So it had nothing to do with our...personal...relationship?" Bill asked quietly, as if he half expected Harry to deny it.

"Um..." Harry swirled the tea around in his cup. "Well, I trusted you, I still do." Bill's heart warmed at this. "And I knew you were looking for interesting places to go, so I figured you'd like it and do well."

"Wait," Bill said, "What do you mean you 'knew', were you keeping track of me?"

Harry stared at the table as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"Well, were you?" Bill prodded.

"Not really. Well, kinda... I was keeping track of you...it's different." Harry said with a grimace, now Bill would hate him. Stalking your ex-boyfriend wasn't exactly smiled upon.

Bill didn't know whether to be annoyed or reach across the table and snog him senseless. Because the first would really difficult considering he couldn't really get annoyed at Harry and the second might not be appreciated, Bill settled for just saying, "Wow, I never knew you cared."

Harry stared at Bill in astonishment, "How could you not know I cared, I've always cared!"

Apparently, Bill _could_ get annoyed at Harry, "Well you certainly have a funny way of showing it! Running away? Really Harry? How does that show you care? You left me sitting on a cold rock in Egypt! Those were the best eleven months of my life and you just disappeared without a word!" Bill was now standing up pacing around the kitchen, his voice steadily rising to a yell. "We had everything and you _ran away!_ How does that show me you care? Then I get invited to an ancient buried city because you said I would be a good guy for the job. You didn't even have the decency to _talk to me_ about it! And now you have the audacity to stroll back in here, _years _later, looking just as amazing as you did that night? How? Tell me, _how_ does that show you care?" Bill finished with a strangled cry.

Harry sat frozen in his seat as he saw exactly how much he had put Bill through. Never, in all his hours of thinking, had Harry considered the fact that Bill might have been hurting as much as him. Now, he was forced to face the consequences of his actions, or inactions, as the case may be.

"I thought you would hate me for lying to you. I thought you would see me as Harry, your baby brother's best friend, not as Reis, the man you met in Egypt.

Bill collapsed back into his chair at the table. "You have no idea how I felt when I realised you were Reis, everything made sense. I love you, I've loved you since the first time I met you."

Harry's heart fluttered, he felt like a little boy again, "What do you mean? Since you met Reis, or me, Harry?"

"You, Harry. I've loved you since the summer of the World Cup. I tried denying it, you have no idea how hard I tried to ignore my feelings but they just kept coming back."

Harry was silent for a good two minutes and then he started laughing. Bill stared at him as if he had gone mad, he also looked a little embarrassed that Harry would laugh at the fact he had loved him for so long.

"What?" He asked with a frown after it became apparent that Harry wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon. "_What_?"

Harry tried to catch his breath. "Sorry." He gasped. "I'm sorry, it's just. Damn, this is priceless!" Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Come here." He got up and grabbed Bill's arm, Harry dragged him into the living room and pushed him on the sofa. Then he went and stood where he used to stand and watch Bill sleep. "Bring back any memories?" He asked.

Bill's eyes went wide, and he looked from Harry to the couch where he was currently sitting, "You mean, you were...?"

"Yup. Apparently we have been head over heels for each other since we met." Harry said with a grin as he sat down on the couch next to Bill.

"Wow." Bill said, as Harry leaned into him. "I don't know about you, but I haven't been able to even _like_ another person the way I did you."

"Yeah, neither have I." Harry said, breathing deeply, he missed Bill's scent.

Bill grinned, "I see why you were laughing. If only we had figured this out back then..." He trailed away, lost in thought. Maybe if they had figured it out he wouldn't be 41 and lonely; he _certainly_ would be 41 and lonely, he'd have Harry with him.

"It wouldn't have worked though." Harry said thoughtfully, "The age difference was too big. I mean, I was 14, you were almost 24. Even in Egypt, when you thought I was Reis, the gap bothered you a bit. Back in school, it would have been impossible, illegal even; I believe we both mentioned something along those lines when we first met in Cairo. Now, well, it's still inappropriate – bordering on wrong, considering our almost familial situation and my relationship with your siblings. The twins, Ron and Ginny all see me as a brother, your Mum thinks of me as a son. No matter what they did or said, no matter how much they tried to convince us they were okay with it, I'm sure it would still be awkward for them to see us together."

Bill pulled Harry even closer, "Then lets not tell them, we will run away. We'll go to Akakor or China. Hell, we could go to Antarctica! I've already disappeared for two years and you've been gone for 15, we could just leave forever! I'll go first, you can catch up with people and then come find me; we'll make a life for ourselves in some foreign country." Bill tipped Harry's face up, took one long look into those mesmerizing eyes and kissed him. They each poured everything into that one kiss, their love, hurt, passion, loss, joy and most of all, their hope. When they ran out of air, Bill gathered Harry into his arms and whispered, "We can love each other and they never have to know."

Harry snuggled into Bill. "Okay. But we're not going to Akakor or China, and the South Pole is too cold. I'm going to take you to Lemuria."

Bill smiled into Harry's hair, "Sounds good to me, but I have no idea what Lemuria is...but if it's anything like Akakor, I'm in. Even if it's not, I'm still in."

Harry put his arms over Bill's and tightened their embrace. "Oh, it's a million times better."

The moment was completely ruined when they heard someone clear their throat behind them, the only reason Bill didn't knock Harry off his lap when he jumped up was because Harry had done exactly the same thing. They whipped around and found themselves facing a shocked Molly Weasley.

* * *

><p>Author's note: See, this is your reward for reviews and alerts etc (though reviews are preferred). I have whole lot more written from here on but it was getting ridiculously long so I chopped it off. You can have more tomorrow. Please review, it makes me extremely happy! And let's see, this time you can have both Harry and Bill, in your choice of either boxes and no shirt, or a mid-thigh shirt with a nice question mark as to the bottoms.<p> 


	6. Coming Home Part III

**Harry Potter and the Years of Adventure**

**Chapter 6 – Coming Home Part III**

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If you thought I did then you need your head checked.<p>

Author's note: Okay, here is the last installment of this story.

Enjoy!

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><p><em>Previously:<em>

_Harry put his arms over Bill's and tightened their embrace. "Oh, it's a million times better."_

_The moment was completely ruined when they heard someone clear their throat behind them, the only reason Bill didn't knock Harry off his lap when he jumped up was because Harry had done exactly the same thing. They whipped around and found themselves facing a shocked Molly Weasley._

"Mrs. Weasley!" Harry said at exactly the same time Bill said, "Mum!"

Molly blinked, she had _not _been prepared to walk in on an intimate moment between Bill and some strange man, especially one where they professed their love and then proceeded to make plans to run away together. She had come in the door just as the stranger said "No matter what they did or said, no matter how much they tried to convince us they were okay with it, I'm sure it would still be awkward for them to see us together." Then Bill, _her _Bill had agreed to keep secrets from her. It felt like someone had stuck a knife in her chest and twisted it, she had always prided herself on being trustworthy, someone her family could tell anything to. Now her firstborn was prepared to lie to her for this complete stranger who had the audacity to relax on her couch.

Just one look at his mother's face was enough to tell Bill that she had heard most, if not all, of their conversation. But by her reaction she had missed the part about it being Harry who was standing in her living room.

"Mum, I'd like to reintroduce you to someone." Bill said before she could get too upset. "Mum, this is Harry, he's come back."

Molly stared at Harry who gave a small smile and an even smaller wave. "Hi, Mrs. Weasley. It's good to see you again." There was five minutes of complete silence in the Burrow – probably the longest there had ever been – while Molly looked at Harry, she seemed to be trying to verify that it was actually him. Finally she came to the conclusion that it was in fact Harry standing in her living room; she burst into tears and ran over to him, giving him the biggest Weasley hug imaginable. Bill smartly retreated to the kitchen to get tea.

"Oh Harry, it's really you! I can't believe you're finally back." She sobbed, "Everyone thought you were gone forever! I knew you'd come home, my boys always do. But did you have to take so long?" When she had calmed down a bit, what she had seen and heard before caught up with her. She looked from Harry to Bill and back again in quick succession as her sharp mind put the pieces together. "You...and _Bill?"_ She asked.

Harry nodded, "Um, yeah."

"How?" She asked as Bill forced her into a chair and handed her a cup of tea. Tea fixed everything. "I mean, I'm not really in a position to complain but...how?"

"Well, I kinda ran into him in Cairo about four years ago, he didn't recognise me; kinda like you just now, so I didn't tell him my real name. We kinda fell for each other, again, even though he thought I was someone else. We didn't know that we'd liked each other since before my graduation."

Molly's eyebrows raised at this particular piece of information but she didn't say anything so Harry continued.

"Well, like I said, we fell in love. We spent a few months in Cairo then moved to Alexandria, it took almost a year, but Bill finally put the pieces of the puzzle together and figured out I was Harry. I got scared and ran away." Harry looked lovingly at Bill, "But I got back today, and apparently he's still as crazy about me as I am about him."

"Oh." Molly said, it was a lot to process. Her oldest son was in a relationship with someone the age of her youngest son...it was hard to accept. "I see."

Bill settled in a chair across from his mother – and _not _next to Harry, there was no need to frighten her, "I know it's weird, that's why we weren't going to tell anyone, they just wouldn't understand."

Molly smiled sadly, "I think you're right, we might be an accepting family and everyone would be fine with either or both of you being gay but, well, together? I think it's best to keep it between us. I'm just glad that you," She nodded to Harry, "Are safe. And you," She nodded to Bill, "Finally have someone. You know, I was worried that you had been alone for so long you'd given up. Personally, I love that you're together, it actually makes sense to me. But, I know for a fact that your father and everyone, except maybe Charlie, would object to a certain extent. It's a sad truth." She wiped a few tears away, it was terrible that their society wasn't accepting enough to encourage two people who were meant for each other – as Harry and Bill obviously were – to be together just because they were gay, 10 years apart in age and theoretically . She jumped up and grabbed the bags she had abandoned at the door. "Oh well, nothing we can do about it right now. I'm going to put these away and get dinner started, I'd say you have about two hours before Arthur gets home and three till Ron, Hermione and their kids get here. They're coming for dinner, bless them, their timing couldn't have been better! Anyway, two hours, max. Make the most of it because I'm not letting either of you leave the country for at least a year!" With that she disappeared into the kitchen.

Bill looked at Harry, "That went better than I thought it would. Though, I suppose if we had to get caught, she would be the best one to do the catching. I also think she means that this is the most alone time we're getting for a while."

"Yeah, I agree, on all points. Wanna go out back?" Harry suggested.

"Sure." They spent the next two hours sitting under the great willow just snuggled up next to each other. Unbeknownst to them, they were just barely visible from the kitchen. Molly sneaked a few glances at them as she worked on dinner, Bill and Harry were obviously completely and totally in love, they looked to be about 20 again; young and in love. She smiled to herself, her two lost sons had found each other and both come home, there was nothing more she could wish for.

As soon as Arthur's hand on the clock switched to 'Traveling', Molly stuck her head out the window and called her boys in. By the time Arthur walked in the door, Bill and Harry were sitting across from each other at the table and Molly was chattering away at them from the kitchen.

"Arthur!" "Dad!" "Mr. Weasley!" Three different greetings met the poor, deceived man as he stepped into the room.

"Molly, Bill. Who is this gentleman?" He asked as he set his briefcase on the side table.

"Arthur!" Molly said as she rushed over to kiss him hello, "You'll never guess who's come back, so I won't even bother asking you to. Arthur, meet the new and improved Harry Potter!" She said with a dramatic flourish of her spoon.

Arthur's jaw hit the floor. "You're joking. You're Harry?" He took in Harry's appearance – he was missing the coat and staff so he didn't look quite as foreign as he could have – and nodded his head once. "Well, you can go ahead and label me surprised, many of us thought you had fallen off the face of the earth. But it is absolutely wonderful to see you again." He walked over to shake Harry's hand but decided at the end that a hug would be more appropriate. "I know it is redundant thing to say but you've grown, and changed. I suppose that's what happens when you're gone for more than 15 years." There was a twinge of accusation in his voice but it was quickly replaced by his usual enthusiasm, "Now, you have to tell us all about what you've been doing all these years! If you wait a few more minutes Hermione, Ron and their kids will be here, but I guess Molly has already told you. They will be absolutely thrilled to see you, I'm sure the kids will love you. You should probably have another cup of tea though, I have a feeling you will be doing a lot of talking tonight." He continued muttering to himself about upstart children who ran away to have adventures as he hung his coat up and went upstairs to freshen up for dinner.

When Ron and Hermione arrived there were bucket loads of tears all around – even Ron cried, though he would deny it later. Hermione was even happy enough to see him that he was spared a lecture, but he had a feeling there would be one coming in a few days. Especially seeing as she was pregnant with twins...hormones and all that. At first their three kids, 11 year old twins Gerald and Francis, and 5 year old Maria, were extremely shy and even a bit scared of their parents antics, but a few well-placed stories from Harry and they were loving the new/old addition to their extended family.

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><p>Over the next two weeks, each and every honourary member of the Weasley family visited the Burrow or Grimmauld Place at least once. Harry divided his time between the two houses which was probably a good thing seeing as there were way too many people to fit in either place at once. He was surprised to find that <em>everyone<em> was married and most of them had a plethora of kids. Harry realised that he should have expected it but still, everyone? Remus had married Tonks and had two kids, Fred had married Alicia and had a set of twins and three other kids, George had married Angelina and had a set of twins and one set of triplets...both women swore off kids and often joked about regretting marrying twins. Between those two couples alone, Hogwarts had been, and would be, doomed for years. Percy had married Penelope and had one boy, who unfortunately took after his father. Charlie and Fleur had Susan. Ginny and Dean had four kids with another two on the way; again, Hogwarts was doomed.

Harry was simply floored by the sheer number of children, and so many of them twins! Not to mention the fact that they were all between the ages of 15 and -6 months! What was it with Weasleys and tons of kids? And these parents? How on Merlin's increasingly red-headed planet did they manage to keep them all under control? He also had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that Hermione was going to have five kids, she just didn't strike him as the type to have that many children; he would have thought she would end up with one boy and one girl, nice and respectable. Between the six Weasley couples (well, one was a Thomas...) there were 18 kids, only 5 of which were already in Hogwarts. This wasn't counting Remus' 9 and 6 year old and Sirius; 15 and 13 year olds. If Harry hadn't seen it with his own eyes he would have thought it impossible; and even though he _had_ seen it, he still wasn't sure he believed it.

After a week of meeting all these people, Harry pulled Bill into the library at Grimmauld – one of the _only_ relatively quite places in the house; but not private, it seemed that all of Hermione and Ron's kids got Hermione's study habits, much to Ron's frustration, and the professors relief.

"Why Harry, if you wanted me alone all you needed to do was visit at _night_, after all, you know we can't sneak around during the day." Harry smacked him.

"I just wanted to know how the hell all these children happened?"

"Well, when a mum and dad really love –" Another smack.

Bill rubbed his shoulder in mock pain. "Fine, well, I guess Weasleys have a thing for kids and all my brothers somehow manage to find a wife who doesn't mind a shit ton of children running abound." He rolled his eyes, "And Ginny is fairly obvious, she's always wanted a huge family, she's well on her way."

"Yeah, but there's _so many_ of them! And all the twins! What is it with you people? Do you like, order them or something? It's insane!" Harry flung his hands into the air in exasperation.

"I don't know." Bill said with a shrug, "It just runs in the family I guess."

Harry sighed. "I don't how the parents keep them all under control, it's like a mad house!"

Bill hung an arm around Harry, "You know, you're actually pretty good with kids. You once managed to keep them _all_ quiet for over an hour. That must be some sort of record you know, I think you deserve another Order of Merlin."

Harry whacked Bill, again; it was becoming a habit. "That Merlin thing is in the attic somewhere and the only reason I can keep them quite is because I can tell them stories no one else can."

"Yeah, but you keep their attention, that's skill." Bill said with a squeeze.

"Well, I did learn a few things in Bermuda." Bill raised his eyebrow, this was new so he gestured for Harry to continue, which he did. "They practice what they call word enchanting. It's a type of storytelling magic."

"Ha!" Bill said triumphantly, "Skill! You're bewitching the kids. Oh you tricky old man."

"Me? Old? What does that make you? Ancient? Decrepit?" Harry asked with a laugh, "I don't think you're in any position to be making age jokes. Anyway, I'd like to think we're the youngest adults here."

"Really?" Asked Bill skeptically, "And how exactly are we the 'youngest adults'? May I remind you that I happen to be the _oldest_ sibling."

"Easy, we never grew up!" Harry said with a grin. "We still believe in fairy tales!"

Bill laughed, "Yeah, but the difference is that we _know_ they are true. We just happen to be better informed than others. Their fairy tales are our reality, well, mostly your's but I've got one!"

"But they don't know that..." Harry said with a crooked smile, "Anyway we get to run around the world free as birds and don't have kids to make us feel old! I mean seriously, compare your life to Charlie's; he has a stable job – albeit with dragons – a wife, and a kid. And look at his face, he _looks_ like an adult. Tell me, when you see yourself in a mirror do you see a 40 year old man?"

Bill glared at him, "You had to remind me of my actual age, didn't you?"

"Hey, I rounded down, thank you very much!" Harry did his best to look affronted. "And you didn't answer my question. Look around; husbands, wives, kids, lives all planned out...tell me they don't seem older than you and me."

"Okay, I see your point." Bill acquiesced, "And yeah, I guess I really do feel like a big kid around my siblings, especially when they're talking about their children." He looked around guiltily, "I feel bad saying it but I suppose I do kinda see all them as older than me now..."

"Ha! See, I'm right. We never grew up, at least I don't think we did."

"Yeah, I sure don't feel much like a grownup. So, what say we go play with the kids? I think _all_ the twins want to learn more about that mind-talk thing."

"Ah yes, taking twin speak to the next level...their parents are going to hate us you know." Harry said with a grin.

"That's half the fun!"

So the youngest adults left the parents to their parent-y stuff and went to play with the kids. Molly watched with a small, knowing smile as her lost boys – as she still thought of them – sneaked out of the library and off towards where the kids were hanging out. Bill and Harry didn't really fit in with the rest of the family anymore. Sure, they would socialize, discuss, debate and spend time with the other adults, and they both had some amazing stories, especially Harry, but they weren't at ease with them. Neither of them had grown up yet, and she loved it; everyone was expected to join the 'real world', Bill and Harry hadn't and for that she thanked Merlin, someone still needed to reach for the stars and land in the heavens.

After a few months, the novelty of Harry being back had worn off – at least among the adults of the family – the kids, Ministry, Hogwarts and the general public still really wanted to know where he had been for 15 years, but Harry ignored most of them quite successfully – he didn't try to ignore the children. Harry moved into Grimmauld Place and Bill stayed at the Burrow, which amused everyone to no end; they loved the fact that their oldest brother was back living at home, he didn't really care. Bill and Harry spent many hours together, completely unnoticed by anyone except Molly and Sirius, who were quite effective partners in crime. Sometimes Harry would help Bill with his book on Akakor, other times they work together – Harry was working on a few different books, he had to be careful what information was included in each of the books so as to keep some of the secrets of the people he visited – but most of the time they just enjoyed each other's company.

That summer, summer 2013, was an interesting affair; it seemed like there was a constant flow of people in and out of the Burrow and Grimmauld Place. None of the regular occupants really minded but that might have been because, being Weasleys, they always brought food and good company. Saturday nights became 'Family Night' and almost everyone would gather in the backyard of the Burrow for a massive bonfire. They cooked dinner in the fire, making roasted potatoes, stick bread, banana boats, hot dogs, smores and of course, loads of butterbeer. There would be a pickup game of Quidditch in the afternoon usually followed by a football game – Harry had managed to convince them that it was worth learning and after a while they came to really like it. The evening usually ended with Harry telling at least one story, some of the adults wanted to pretend that they weren't quite as fascinated with the tales as the children were, but after a few minutes everyone would be gasping in the right places, laughing and waiting with baited breath to find out what happened next; no one could escape the enchanted words, they were each drawn into the adventure.

* * *

><p>However, by the end of Summer Harry and Bill were both exhausted, most of the kids seemed to think they were the coolest people around – neither of them minded this distinctions – and had therefore decided to go out of their way to find and pester them. This, they did mind. Despite the fact that Harry would tell at least two stories on Family Nights, every time on of the kids saw him they would ask for another. Problem was, they knew he had 15 years of good stories to tell, and never let him forget it.<p>

So, it was with great excitement and immense relief that the two of them walked onto Platform 9 ¾ on the 1st. There were going to be two new Weasleys and one new Thomas attending Hogwarts this year, bringing the number of attendees from the Extended Weasley Clan up to a total of ten. It was probably a good thing Dumbledore had retired three years ago because if he hadn't, he might very well have died of a heart attack.

"Hey Bill," Harry said quietly as he pulled him a little ways away from the mob. "I'm _really_ glad you're a guy."

Bill gave a crooked grin. "So am I, it makes sleeping together so much easier, I know where everything goes!" He winked, "But judging by your current expression, that's _not_ what you were talking about...So tell me, why are you glad I'm a guy?"

Harry grinned right back at him, "Cause if you were a girl, we'd have to deal with all _that!_" He waved his hand in the direction of the train where various set of parents were corralling kids.

"Good Merlin, you're right, we'd have to like, actually get married, have a proper _house_, and we'd be expected to have babies!" Bill shuddered then turned to Harry. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're a guy too." Bill said this with as straight a face as he could manage, but it failed in a grand total of two seconds and they burst out laughing. Molly sidled up to them.

"What has you two clandestine lovebirds so amused?" She asked quietly.

Bill grinned at his Mum, "We're just glad no one can expect us to have kids."

Molly chuckled, "You know, there was a time when that would have broken my heart, But I'm pretty sure I have enough grandbabies to be getting along with for now." The she grabbed their shoulders and steered them towards the train. "Now, stop skulking around and get out there to say goodbye to your nieces and nephews. And no Harry, don't think you can get out of it just because you don't have Weasley blood. So, go." She finished with a shove.

Once the kids had been seen off, Harry and Bill retreated back to Grimmauld Place.

"Bill! Someone just flooed in." Harry said as he pushed Bill off him, they had been relaxing on the couch, reading over and editing the other's manuscripts. Bill groaned.

"Ugh. This is getting old." Bill then swung his legs around, propped them up on the couch, balanced the bound pile of papers on his knees and laid his head on the armrest. As he was doing this, Harry had jumped off the couch – Bill's legs landed where he had been sitting – and curled up in a chair across the table. In less than five seconds they were settled and looked like they had been sitting like that for hours.

"Hello, boys." Molly said as she cheerfully entered the room. "It's just me, everyone else is out so you can go back to cuddling on the couch as I'm sure you were doing before you heard me floo in."

Bill and Harry each gave her a sheepish smile and returned to their previous position, with Bill resting his head on Harry's lap and Harry using said head as a place to balance his pile of papers. It took them less time to return than it took them to leave.

"You know," Molly said, "I still can't believe that you've done such a good job keeping this covered up. It is truly amazing, especially seeing as you're completely and totally crazy about each other. I thought this would blow up in your faces months ago."

"Why thanks for your confidence in our secret-keeping abilities." Bill said with a grin. "We greatly appreciate it."

Harry laughed. "Oh Molly, you have _no idea_ how good our secret keeping skills are. I mean seriously, do you know what Bill was doing for two years? Do you know where all I went? Having a clandestine relationship is nothing. At least all we have to lose is respect, and we don't really care much about that anyway."

Molly glared at them; she had tried for many months to figure out where they had been, but had been completely and utterly unsuccessful. "Fine. But I'll have you know that Christina knows somethings not quite right."

"Well, _that _is one thing that surprises me, I did think she would have figured it out by now." Harry said thoughtfully, "But hey, I'm not complaining."

"Yes, well, that's not why I came by; I wanted to know what you were planning on doing now that the kids are back at school, I don't want you running off on me."

"We won't run off without telling you, that would be rude." Harry said indignantly.

"Oh really? So what exactly was it you did 16 years ago?" Molly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry had the decency to look guilty. "Okay fine, we won't do it _again_."

"Good."

"Anyway, we're both working on books." Bill said, pointing to the many piles of paper around the room, "We can't rightly up and leave before we finish."

Molly looked satisfied, "Okay, good."

The school year came and went and soon all the kids were piling off the train. Harry and Bill had helped teach some of the 5th through 7th years about the big wide world and prepared to take the best to Akakor, even if the students didn't know where they were going. They did know it was something to do with goblins because they had learned a lot about their culture, language and customs. But they were quite confused by what else they had learned; navigation and light spells, rock identification, spelunking, Spanish, political etiquette, search and rescue spells, rock climbing, endurance and all sorts of other random things. However, the students were extremely excited when they met Bill, it meant they were going somewhere top-secret because it was common knowledge that was what Bill Weasley had done for two years. Because he was one of their teachers it was pretty obvious that was where they were going.

Molly knew something was up when Bill and Harry started to pack up _all_ their papers; everyone knew that they two of them were taking their class on a trip to the secret place Bill had gone – which Harry apparently knew about - but she was particularly observant and noticed that they were packing _everything_. Molly sighed, she should count herself lucky they had stuck around for so long, they obviously wanted to be together. This was the perfect opportunity for them to leave, people would think that they had just stayed in the secret place, she and Sirius knew they were off somewhere else but didn't tell anyone else that; both were just glad the boys trusted them enough to tell them that much.

* * *

><p>"Hello boys." Molly said as she walked into their office – no one questioned the fact that they shared an office because they were co-teaching a class, it seemed normal - she and Sirius knew that a lot more than grading papers went on in there but kept that information to themselves.<p>

"Hey Mum." Bill said, lifting his head from the table where he was currently banging it.

Molly frowned at her son, "Is there something you'd like to tell me? Like, why you're destroying what few braincells you might have?"

"Ugh. It's just these kids, we weren't expecting them _all_ to pass. We made it really hard on purpose! They're just so damn motivated." He glared at the pile of papers and voice recording spheres. "I don't think any of them have worked this hard in their entire lives!"

Molly laughed until her sides ached. "You're complaining that your students are _too good_? That they put _too much_ effort into their work? I don't think I will ever even begin to understand you."

Harry chose that moment to walk into the room. "What's going on? I can hear you from the hall."

"Bill here is complaining that your students worked too hard." Molly said with another laugh. "It's the first time I have _ever_ heard _anyone_ say something like that."

"But it's true!" Harry said with a frustrated snarl. "There were three reasons we made this class extremely difficult; 1) We need to give the goblins a good impression, 2) We don't want anyone getting themselves killed, and 3) We wanted a manageable number of students. Now, we have 42 students between the ages of 15 and 17 that we have to keep track of for two months! I mean, come on! We had two hour classes three times a week and gave another hour of homework each day. We made them learn most of one language and the basics of another – to practice on their own time, ran them to the ground physically every Saturday morning with the expectation that they do the same to themselves every other day, made them break just about every preconception about life possible and promised to kick them out if they got less than a B on anything in our class or in any of their other classes. Some of these are OWL and NEWT students! I don't know how they did it. If I hadn't seen all this with my _own_ eyes – and checked with Bill to make sure I wasn't hallucinating – I would say that it was impossible."

Molly stared at the two of them in horror. "You could have killed the poor things! Or driven them insane or given them a series of mental breakdowns or something! How do you know you haven't scared them for life or driven them to an early grave?"

Bill smashed his face into the table again. "Because they also had weekly physicals with Pomfrey and bi-weekly check-ins with a psychiatrist. These are like, wonder kids or something."

Molly glared at him again, "You should just be glad it wasn't _you_ doing all that. It would probably kill you, you little old man."

Harry laughed into his hand as Bill yelled"Hey! I'm not little and I'm not old."

"Well you probably would be if you had to do all that." Molly said smugly.

"Actually, Molly." Harry said. "We both did. We did _everything_ with the kids; after all, we have to be there too. And Bill here spent the time learning about the place we're planning on going, I made him work just as hard as the students."

If she hadn't already been sitting down, Molly probably would have collapsed. "You guys are crazy, absolutely nuts."

Harry grinned. "Yes, yes we are. Now, what can we help you with?"

Molly shook her head to focus again. "Actually, you kinda just did. I had just noticed that you two seemed to be planning on actually leaving, not just taking a trip."

"Oh, yeah." Bill said guiltily, "We were going to tell you tomorrow. We're going to leave straight from the trip, we won't be coming back with the students."

"I figured as much." Molly said sadly. "I'm glad you were going to tell me though, I would have been really sad it you had just gone."

"But don't worry, Mum." Bill said as he put his arm around her shoulders, "We'll be back in three years at the latest. After all, we have to teach the next round of students. We can't just ignore the rest of the future now can we?"

Bill and Harry led a very successful trip to Akakor, their students were extremely well behaved, none of them died and the goblins were thrilled. When their two months were up, the kids went back to England without Harry and Bill.

"So Bill, you ready to start a life with me?"

"I've been ready since I first met you."

"Good. Now, we have to get to the Indian Ocean, it's on the other side of the world. Literally. So, east or west?"

"West." Bill said with a grin. "Then we can sail off into the sunset."

And that's what they did, they packed all their stuff into Harry's boat and headed to a little island in the Maldives.

* * *

><p>Harry and Bill sat side by side at the bow of the boat, watching the glorious sun sink below the tiny line where the sea met the sky. Their entire world exploded in every shade of red, orange, yellow and pink imaginable, with not a single bit of land in sight, the colours surrounded them. Bill touched his forehead to Harry's and then they pressed their lips together, their passion as heated, beautiful, and magnificent as the sun.<p>

The two men lay next to each other as stars sprinkled the heavens,and the moon graced the earth with it's presence. A shooting star flashed across the sky and Bill leaned down to whisper in Harry's ear;

_Star light, star bright,_

_Shooting star I see tonight._

_The world is once again at right,_

_Because my Harry's here tonight._

The end.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it and that the ending was okay. There <em>will <em>be more, I will be writing little vinyetts that fit into this story. You'll have to check my profile for updates because they _won't _be posted here, there should be one called 'The Frozen North' up in a few days. Even though the story is officially 'complete' I still like getting reviews...they will help me write the other parts faster. Also, if you're like me and usually only read completed stories, it's still nice to hear from you!

Cheers!


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